“Guys look... boss Tao is smiling!”

“Is he going to go and teach this boy a lesson?”

“In a fight without relying-on spirit-energy... then my money is on the boy! I respect boss Tao and all, but this kid is a monster, earlier he avoided Wang’s move despite it coming from his blind-spot.”

“Tsk... boss Tao doesn’t need to use spirit-energy to play with a junior, you guys really don't think that the three of them were taking the fight seriously... do you?”

“They didn’t?”

“Of course not! boss Zhang is many times stronger when his martial-spirit is supporting him in a fight, boss Lai didn’t use his weapon at all, and Wang is many times faster when he’s activating his spirit-abilities... let’s not forget that his abilities can both defend and slow the opponents.”

“But this Lin is really something for someone his age, he’s nine years old... at best! yet he was able to perfectly counter the moves of three spirit-grandmasters one after another-” the man who started to blabber was interrupted when he received a smack on the head by one freshly acquired fan of Lin.

“Just bet or... just shut the fuck up. My money is on Lin... one red-coin from me.” The man flipped a coin in the air then caught it and looked towards the men around him.

“I’ll be the house... the odds are even, if old Tao joins the action then you can win what you bet! one for one.” Tang Wei's ears twitched when he heard a call for bets! being a very successful merchant with a good sense for making money and a person who could grab opportunities when they arrive... he announced himself and began collecting coins from the crewmates. Meanwhile the smile on his face grew wider.

'Nothing is comparable to the sound of money when it’s entering my pockets... especially when I spend no effort to make it!' Wei thought while wishing if he had a bigger crew within the ship.

The majority of the bets from the crewmates were still placed on Tao winning in the end. Peng Tao is only a first-stage spirit-grandmaster and the current holder of the lowest spirit-cultivation amongst the five spirit-cultivators within the ship. Still... he received almost eighty-percent of the bets placed on him! why? because this man once was a spirit-tyrant of fifth-stage.

He’s been the Peng-clan’s number-one genius whose star didn’t shine for long... in the past Peng Tao was tasked with the responsibility of being the personal-guard for one of Tang Wei's older-brothers! having to save his young-master once... Peng Tao didn't hesitate to sacrifice a realm and half of his spirit-cultivation to save his young-master from a precarious situation and help him escape from the attack of two loose-cultivators. These two loose-cultivators had attainments of spirit-cultivation within the high-stages of the tyrant-realm. After that incident Peng Tao’s spirit-cultivation dropped to the peak-perfection of the spirit-master realm! after years of accumulation and spirit-cultivation... the man only managed to raise his spirit-cultivation to re-breakthrough once again to the grandmaster-realm. But... his hidden-wounds from overstraining his latent-potential to fend for his young-master... proved that they’re always going to hinder any further attempts to breakthrough when it comes to spirit-cultivation in the future. At that time Peng Tao needed a miraculous-medicine or a high-level pill which is made specifically by a high-ranked alchemist for his body to heal these hidden-injuries... but at that time Tang Wei wasn't old yet. The fatty’s talent and ability for making money and creating business opportunities for the five-clans was still yet to be discovered. The Tang clan and its four allied-clans were suffering from poverty and extreme harassment at that time... and the optimum time for Peng Tao to restore his spirit-cultivation and heal his hidden-injuries passed-by hand-in-hand with the years which he despaired and failed to find a method to solve his problems! his vitality-deterioration kicked-in and his body which could handle crystalized spirit-energy withered-away and became vulnerable to mortal-illness and sickness... after a tough struggle which this man had to physically-adapt with a dantian that can only be fed spirit-energy of the liquid-rank in the future—which is of a lower-grade and purity-rank if compared to spirit-energy of the crystalized-rank—he just lost hope of regaining his previous attainments in the system of spirit-cultivation!... let alone stepping towards further heights in this life. But... as a former tyrant of the mid-stages... his comprehensions and battle-experience still exist. After all... Peng Tao is the only spirit-cultivator on this ship who tasted what it feels like to attain a higher spirit-realm since he spent years communicating with the dao from a point which is higher than the rest of these four. When such a person is facing a boy which seems to be like... less than a decade old! then spank him he shall... even if he’s forced to take it easy on the brat because young-master Wei isn’t allowing his men to take these fights seriously. At least that's how all these people who betted against Lin thought to... encourage themselves of a win that’s... certainly assured.

Lin and Tao were facing each other calmly on the empty area where the three previous fights happened. Meanwhile the ongoing transactions for the bet was quickly dealt-with by the money-grubbing young-master! despite being a complete waste of a good potential when it comes to spirit-cultivation with his natural-affinity for the element of lightning... Tang Wei never forgets a tiny detail whenever he’s dealing with coins.

“Built enough mental-pressure yet?... geezer.” Lin smirked towards the hook-nosed man whose sharp yellow-colored eyes resemble Sun's own when it comes to eye-color. This Peng Tao was currently using the oldest yet most simple trick in the book! applying mental-pressure on the opponent by staying completely still and watching your enemy very closely... and calmly. Keep yourself ready like a bow-string which is pulled to the outmost limit... once the opponent reveals any weakness... go for it and strike at once... then take it from there to build-up more momentum for your next moves by striking each weakness that appears next.

“Admirable indeed... but if you won't crack, then I guess I just have to make you.” Peng Tao walked towards Lin while he spoke... on his face there was a smile which revealed how much he was enjoying this encounter with the boy! his movements slow and peaceful... some of the crewmates frowned because from the way it looks to them—from the perspective of an audience—Peng Tao is walking to shake Lin's hand or something like that. Not the attitude of someone who’s going to actually... fight.

“You can... try.” Lin copied his opponent’s moves step by step and the distance between them... shrunk faster than what anybody could’ve expected! especially since both of them are actually... moving slowly.

Despite being mortals... these crewmates could feel how heavy the air has become and kept growing even more heavy with each slow step these two took towards each other! none of them dared to blink or breath... because they are afraid to miss it if they do.

“Tsk.” Lai clicked his tongue when he saw Lin's swift reaction to counter old Tao's method to counter Lin’s ability of taking advantage of his opponent’s power and use it against them. First the boy used that weird twisting-technique of his to send Zhang flying since the simpleton tend to use the entirety of his power in every move... against the kid he simply had no chance and that’s why he lost in the most simple way. Then Lai himself attempted a strike which was more compact where he used too little force and aimed for a vital-area which is the neck... but the boy changed his approach from soft to counter hard which he used against Zhang before facing Lai... to the method of hard against soft when he simply held the joints of his opponent to eliminate any force from travelling back! then he applied his own pressure and used the momentum of his own twisting-motion which he prepared while feinting having to avoid to lure Lai into tilting his body slightly downwards to actually hit the boy. In that position it became harder for the blade-user to regain his balance and much easier to lose his own with a slight pull from his opponent. But the boy didn’t go easy on him at all... he gave Lai a taste of sour defeat. Then the boy used the same soft approach to counter Wang’s soft technique which aimed at Lin’s blind-spot and vital-area which is the back of the head... he instantly revealed a move which caused Liao Lai to shiver in both excitement and fear! parry, lock, and strike. Even when weapons aren’t included in the fights... the blade-user found himself learning much from the boy... simply because his moves never lacked the aspect of flow! but these sorts of confrontations aren’t suitable when merged with the image of a brat of that tender and young age however... the kid was able to flip the tables on their expectation... again and again. Maybe there’s others of similar age in this spirit-world who could achieve what Lin did and beat the three of them... but Liao Lai is certain that no-one can do it with such ease and calm. Because this boy has certain "grace" while doing it... a grace which makes the eyes glow! even after he got embarrassed by Lin’s words and actions... the blade-user couldn't help but grit his teeth and swallow the bitter-feelings then admit his own inferiority to this brat. Because if both of them were of the same age... then only bad news awaited him if they met in a situation where they’re enemies.

'What was I doing at that age? sigh... I was having fun beating-up Wei, and beating-up the others within the training-grounds, looking-down on every one of the clans, and prancing-around like a peacock among a group of chicken, a fool who became drunk with the feelings of euphoria after bullying the weak, maybe... I’m really a bully deep-down like they say!' Lai thought while shaking his head in regret then he focused because Lin and Tao are two steps away from the zone where they can actually land a successful hit.

Holding their breath... every set of eyes is on these two... two steps... one step.

Tao was relaxing his shoulders and his arms were dangling naturally at his sides and swinging back and forth slowly with each step. These hands didn't seem to carry any power on them... but once Lin was in range Tao's left-arm was extended forward in a perfect angle to narrow Lin's view of the grey-haired old-man. Clearly... that action is aiming to block the boy’s sight of his opponent especially from Tao's feet! all Lin could see of Tao was his body from the stomach upwards while their bodies continued to move closer to one another and the distance between them shrunk into ultra-close-range... from the perspective of an outsider... the crewmates of the ship saw these two move similar to two people in a narrow or crowded street and almost brushing shoulders while passing each other. Of course... Peng Tao was towering over Lin in height which made actually brushing shoulders... impossible.

'Aiming to switch stances huh! sneaky indeed, but... what are you aiming to do once you’re in my blind-spot? let’s hope that you actually learned anything from your friend’s loss.' While having these thoughts... Lin noticed how the joint of Tao's left-shoulder became slightly raised unlike the right-shoulder! even someone who’s extending his arm forward wouldn’t be raising his shoulder by that much... afterwards when the boy saw the slightly uncontrolled-movement on the elbow-joint of the arm which Tao raised to mess-up the perspective and confuse his opponent’s sense of distance. Lin understood that the man has intentionally dislocated his left-shoulder and is building strength in his lower-body... once this twisting-momentum—which results from the sudden change of stance—travels all the way up to the tip of these fingers on the man’s left-hand... the backhand-sweep will be at least two times faster than it should. 'Honestly... I’m starting to feel insulted, you’re aiming to use my techniques to beat me?' Lin thought after figuring the trajectory of the attack from this angle since Tao's thin and long arms would be like a whip or a snake who’s suddenly springing its body to sink its fangs on a prey! once Lin and Tao were about to pass each other... Tao—who has flawlessly and in a very discreet motion changed his pose from an orthodox-stance to a southpaw-stance like a light-footed panther—twisted his torso backwards to the extreme limit. Lin—who expected the attack to come suddenly felt like there’s something wrong with his calculations—and didn’t make his move to counter the attack which he thought that it would come... the boy’s intuition seemed on point right afterwards when he noticed how Tao instantly changed stance once again to the orthodox-stance once his torso reached the limit of its twisting-motion. 'From the back! he isn’t going to use his right-arm with the opening strike, good feint indeed.' Lin thought once he noticed how Tao shifted his right-foot for a much narrower and much tighter stance... then the man’s left-arm moved backwards and away from his face! which made it look like Tao was making way for the boy to pass him without bumping into each other for those who spectated and had and outer view of what happened... the man’s narrow-stance added with the great amount of twisting-momentum suddenly shifted upwards towards the upper-body from the lower-body through the waist and Tao's body spun in place like a top with amazing speed. Tao’s left-arm made almost a full-circle in a split-second and the back of his left-hand was about to hit Lin's back of the neck... the great control of motion was accompanied by two faint sounds of the joints of his left-shoulder relocating itself in its socket then the left-elbow right before his arm made contact! which helped the left-arm travel faster towards its target because of the twisting-motion which wasn’t interrupted by any of these two joints. 'Perfect execution but... what else can you achieve? is there follow-up moves afterwards? or... was your intention to throw me off-balance from the very beginning.' Lin thought while suddenly dropping his body down into a crouch which made it seem like his knees failed to carry his weight! however... this form has great similarity to Sun’s natural pose of crouching... even the air around the kid resembled a ferocious-beast and was clearly felt by his opponent and spectators. Lin sprang-up just as fast as he crouched and used a hand-form like a tiger’s claw which snatched Tao's snake-like wrist that was aimed to hit him on the back of the neck... once held between his squeezing-fingers the boy instantly yanked that thin and long arm down and forward in the direction of his right while pivoting on his left foot... now Lin’s left-shoulder was almost touching the stomach of Tao—who found his weight shifting forward against his will—Lin let go of the left-wrist which he held by his right-hand in a tiger-claw. 'He wasn’t prepared... sigh.' The boy thought while firmly blocking the right-fist which Tao tried to deliver—in a hurry towards Lin’s—at the right-temple... but that fist was met with the tip of the kid’s right-elbow which stopped it before it gained any speed! 'This is how... you use a twisting-momentum,' Lin thought while leaning his left-shoulder deeper into Tao's groin-area... the boy bent the elbow joint of his left-arm and planted it in the man's stomach! that elbow strike sent the thin and tall old man flying backwards more than seven meters before he hit the gunwale of the ship with his back, 'By allowing not only your own force to travel within your muscles... but also the force your opponent sends towards you.' Lin thought while raising his bent upper-body to stand tall... from this place the boy looked around and admired his own success in the previous spar with Tao and felt proud of himself for making the right choice in the beginning! the exchange took only two seconds from beginning to end and Lin would’ve been at a disadvantage if he rushed to make the first move... especially because he wasn’t using anything to assist him in these fights and was relying completely on his physical-capabilities. Lin actively blocked his soul-sense so that he wouldn’t read the man's motions... since doing so would ruin the fun and be considered cheating in a fair sparring match! however... Ming was using these abilities instead... had any sign of danger been spotted by the deadly-sin of pride? then he would've activated the spirit-wings and used them to flee to safety. Even if means that Lin’s fun has to be prematurely stopped if he does so! after the experience with Mia... the "six" of them has to constantly remain on their toes... so that it wouldn’t happen again. Lin is too trusting after all.

“I Won!... hahaha, I'm rich... hahaha.” Someone raised his arms and laughed ecstatically while jumping around like a monkey and hugging people.

“Fuck me!... boss Tao really, h-he really lost the exchange. Fuck! fuck, fuck, and fucking fuck... I lost half my savings! m-my wife, oh-no! she’s really... she’s going to fuck-up my vacation days! what have I done? stupid me... what the fuck have I done? I promised her that I would buy her some fancy garments and stuff...” Another fell to his knees and talked to himself while banging against the wooden deck with a fist... overcome with feelings of sorrow and... comical despair.

“Shit... is he really just a kid? this is certainly a monster! definitely one of these formidable beasts, you know... the ones who turn into people after getting struck by lightning.” Another loser could only do his thing and spread gossip.

“What just happened? it happened so fast! I didn’t get to see anything again... some son of a bitch stood in front of me... again. Who was it? if you’re a man... reveal yourself to this lady, if you dare... that is. Tsk... I’m certainly getting that pill once I save enough money, bully me? humph.” One woman glared everywhere around her to find the one who caused her to miss the action.

While the crewmates talked among themselves.

Lai, Zhang, Wang, Wei, and old Tao... these five were sucking one long and cold breath which filled their chests with shock and slight... fear! because unlike these mortals... these five witnessed the same exchange with different sets of eyes... just earlier Lin shouldn't have been able to hit Tao before Tao's left-arm returned to his side once Lin let go of his hold. In theory... the slight delay of motion where the boy has to block before being able to resume attacking the man again... actually allows Peng Tao the chance to use his left-hand to block! but... Lin "brilliantly" used the force from Tao's follow-up punch to speed-up his own strike which he delivered with the left-elbow... not only so... actually Lin's right-elbow got in the way of Tao's punch which the man sent with his right-hand. Meanwhile the palm of Lin’s right-hand held the clenched-fist of the left-hand which helped guide the power to quickly travel from the elbow of the right-hand all happened while the boy pushed with his right-foot on the wooden-deck of the ship and taking a deeper step-in with his left-foot right underneath Tao's center of gravity—which is his waist—this elbow-strike caused Tao to fly not only because it was heavy... but also because the old man was trying to move backwards with his midsection to widen the distance between him and Lin after his two-pronged attack failed to land! since the boy is smaller in size then he might just avoid the kid’s reach and regroup for another round but... Lin’s deeper step-in between Tao’s feet killed the man’s hope of a successful evasion.

“Much, much better than these three minions... good minion, now!... who's going to be my number-one? hmm!...” Lin smiled when he noticed the minority of smart crewmates—those who bet on his success—jump in joy while the majority just gritted their teeth in silence after losing their money on a losing-bet. Then turned to look at the four spirit-cultivators which he embarrassed then asked them to antagonize them even further with his words.

“You wouldn't have won if any of them had used his martial-spirit or weapon! y-you... don't you go too far, you brat do have a way with words, it’s just... infuriating. You made me lose two red-coins... you little shit, I swear I would’ve really kicked your butt if... if I could! my grandchildren are twice your size and age already so, so don’t you be cocky just yet.” One woman in the attire of a cook swung her ladle in the face of her crewmates to force them into clearing a path for her then pointed her tool towards Lin while venting her frustrations.

“Yes!... you’re absolutely right, hey kid, listen-up here... boss Tao and the rest would kick your ass, effortlessly at that... had they done so. Time to get serious... boss Tao, boss Zhang, brother Wang... boss Lai use your weapon. This kid is getting ahead of himself here... because you went easy on him.” The helmsman squeezed the wooden-wheel and shouted from the bridge... from his tone of voice he’s just another loser.

“True!... so what if your physical-body is strong? many martial-artists have strong physical-bodies, yet... they’re all doomed to be shamed or to die if they dare offend a spirit-cultivator, fuck... that smile on the kid’s face just reminded me that I lost five red-coins.” One of the sailors spoke but soon afterwards he became so emotional to the degree of being on the verge of tears.

“Heh... you bunch of morons, so what if they haven't used their martial-spirit? I didn't use mine either, so you better stop making it sound like I did. Sigh... so stupid really, it’s really pointless to argue with idiots... I guess! you guys really do throw so much bullshit around... it’s starting to hurt my ears just by listening to it.” Lin gave these sore-losers an amused smirk then used his pinky to clear his ear while sneering at these people... which only infuriated the losers more and more.

“God! I'm so angry at this brat right now, he needs some serious spanking to correct this attitude of his.” Wang muttered to himself while massaging his forehead which Lin flicked with his finger... not only was that attack sudden and fast but also strong enough to shake his brain and he was knocked-out shortly then the dizzy-spell started to fade just now! had that attack been a punch instead? then Wang is certain that his face would've been swollen badly right now... the handsome man is certain that this boy is stronger than what he revealed so far.

“Again... let's have another fight with spirit-energy, right!... Zhang lost I admit it, but I want to try again because I didn't use my spirit-energy before.” Meanwhile simpleton Zhang activated his martial-spirit while speaking his mind... the strong man honestly and straightforwardly walked towards Lin and asked for another duel while giving the boy an excited look through these wide and pure eyes which resemble an ox’s eyes. Zhang's martial-spirit turned-out to be a three meters tall and extremely muscular brownish-red minotaur which has a pair of one meter horns on its head! these thick and twisted white-horns points forward like two lethal spears from inferno which can puncture anything in their way. There’s a few batches of thick and long brownish-red fur covering its loins, chest, and thighs. Its two hoofs at the end of its extremely thick and weirdly-shaped legs are big, thick, curved, and black in color—which contrasted the colors of its horns and fur—these pair of hoof glistened like refined metal under the reflection of light! Lin immediately understood that if this minotaur kicked something then it has one of two fates waiting for it... one of these two is to break under pressure... the other fate is to be sent flying. Zhang's body itself is covered in a layer of brown and red spirit-energy... but when the strong man reached the distance of ten meters away from Lin the honest and simple man stood and waited! clearly waiting for the boy to activate his martial-spirit too. 'So that's how spirit-cultivators use spirit-energy to protect their bodies, energy-armor huh!... still a long way for me to achieve it, sigh. I'm only in the first stage of the spirit-apprentice realm after all, while he's three major-realms higher and in the spirit-grandmaster already, he can use his spirit-energy to protect his body and use that energy to unleash long-range techniques if he wants, while I can only use my light-energy to internally reinforce my body after clearing a meridian-branch of one of my major-meridians! but if my wings hadn't been interfering with the refinement of my spirit-energy... then I might’ve began that step of working on the first major-meridian already. Sigh... I’m trying to fool myself here, even if I had already began that step... then my light-energy would've been only available when reinforcing my body internally, add to that advantage how his spirit-energy has already gained liquid-form, while my light-energy is only in the gaseous-form, looks like I need to rely on speed and soul-force to counter his strength... no more holding back then.' Lin thought while studying Zhang's martial-spirit and sensing the spirit-energy on the strong man’s body... then the boy activated his golden-wings and confronted Zhang calmly before beckoning for his opponent to make his move.

“Bets everyone!... odds are three to one in Zhang's favor, he’s a stage-four spirit-grandmaster with dual natural-affinity for the elements of earth and fire, while Lin is a stage-one spirit-apprentice with the natural-affinity for the element of light.” Wei clapped to attract the attention of the shocked crewmates... the fatty wants to collect the money or hear the bets before Lin and Zhang dueled! this young-master was still lamenting how few the crewmates are and how small is this audience.

“Wait!... boss Zhang wait please, don't fight before I place my bet, since I already won two red-coins once before while betting on... this foul-mouthed Lin who disrespected my brothers and sister! ehehehe... then I bet two- no!... four red-coins on boss Zhang winning this fight.” One crewmate wanted to bet on the boy again but discovered his friends who lost before glaring his way! after succumbing to pressure... the man sighed inwardly and went with the flow. Losing two red-coins wouldn’t hurt him by much but... losing the joyful ties with his fellow crewmates would make these sea-journeys blain and tasteless.

“Yes. There's no way this Lin would win this time, the difference in cultivation is just insane! I can't just rely on luck every-time... I bet ten red-coins on boss Zhang.” The act of the timid-fellow affected a few of the winners from the previous round.

“My bet is still on Lin... four red coins.” However... there were a few people who just don’t care about the opinions of others! this breed just does whatever the hell they feel like it... whenever they feel like it.

While the crewmates pushed each other to give Wei their money or shouted their calls from a distance... Lin concentrated his soul-force and shrunk its range to one-third of its maximum-range then just waited like Zhang for Tang Wei to give the signal for this fight to start.

“Zhang. I know that you don't always get to control your strength while fighting but... try to stop if things got dangerous, this isn't a fight to the death, brother do you understand? we shouldn’t hold a grudge against a little kid! otherwise all of us will intervene and stop you... because after all he said and done... he’s still the guest of young-master Wei.” Wang went and leaned his back at the ship’s main-mast... then the handsome-man warned this adorable and honest best-friend of his to try and hold-back when the results of the fight are obvious.

“En. Zhang understands, actually... somehow I feel like, Lin is just trying so hard to look like a baddie, but... he's actually a good guy.” While nodding seriously... Zhang's wide oxen eyes never left Lin's pair of huge golden-wings when he spoke. Because these wings made his naturally-untroubled mind feel very at peace just by looking at them! he was getting excited and wanted to exchange blows with this boy again... just like how he loved to spar with his best-friend Wang ever since they were young children. The courageous, fearless, and confident attitude of Lin when he faced him and his lifelong-friends... reminded Zhang of the days when he was young... long before he was allowed to leave the confines of his clan where it’s safe! Long before this strong man got to see the scenes of this cruel world... that inherent-confidence within Zhang’s younger-version was gradually ground-down to the degree of almost being completely lost after meeting and witnessing countless opponents which are far stronger than him during the following years of his life. He’s stubborn by nature and the simple-minded man refused to accept that fate but... no matter how hard Zhang trained every day and no matter how much he tried to become stronger by meditating or exercising... he just couldn't keep-up with the others when it comes to spirit-cultivation. That’s why he currently has the lowest spirit-cultivation amongst his friends... a stage-four spirit-grandmaster. Wang is the closest to him in spirit-cultivation being a stage-six grandmaster while young-master Wei is a stage-seven grandmaster... Lai the gang's bully! has the highest spirit-cultivation which is a stage-eight grandmaster. Zhang has always been the one who worked the hardest in this group... yet he’s always been the one to gain the lowest in return... his only advantage over the members of this group is his strength which is much better than his friends and the insane amount of endurance which has always been his only method to counter Lai whenever he tried to bully him or Wang! when it comes to old Tao... he isn't from their generation to begin with. But despite currently having lower spirit-cultivation  if compared to Zhang... he’s been one of Zhang's role models when he was younger and still is... especially after what the man sacrificed to save Wei's older brother! that contribution is beyond what either of them gave the five-clans. Maybe Wei’s contribution is similar or slightly better.

“You're doubting yourself, why?” Lin suddenly spoke and Zhang was pulled rudely from his daydreams and memory recollection... while being stared straight at by these pair of gold-eyes from the boy in front of him... Zhang didn't speak but his huge and callous hands clenched tighter into fists, “From the energies that I feel on all of you... my sweet and stupid minions! that idiot with the huge blade over there is the strongest person, followed by fatso the money-grubber who’s counting coins like beggars, then dandy all-smiles which seems to care about his looks much more than his strength and... foolish you! with your blind and single-minded mentality. Finally geezer takes the last rank from the bottom, but he doesn’t seem to care at all because his levelheadedness is worth much more that all of you combined in my books.” Lin continued to speak while pointing at every spirit-cultivator on the ship.

The crewmates secretly sniggered to themselves when they saw a vein pop-up on Lai's forehead and throb... then laughed carelessly when they noticed how Wang's face blushed and the twitching on the corner of his smiling mouth! Wei proudly raised his head when Lin called him a money-grubber and covered the money from the eyes of others only Tao is the one who wasn’t affected by whatever Lin said at all... not because he’s arrogant... but because what the boy said about these juniors is true.

“From idiot big-blade I feel hidden sharpness which is full of frustration and stifled-emotions but... all these heavy-emotions are actually dragging that sharpness which he should have, maybe that’s the cause of that bluntness which I felt from his moves, or somehow causing disruption for the fluidity that should accompany sharpness! fatso money-grubber clearly have another passion... for another source of power, it seems unlike how prickly his body feels to me in its inherent-nature which is contradictory indeed to how heavy his exterior-shape looks like, his character is nimble and light just like a feather actually. When it comes to dandy all-smiles... he has this deep coldness and frostiness behind his cheerful personality, but he seems to be denying that side of himself with light-humor and social-bonding! yet you... my dear blind fool, the feeling I get from confronting you is like... facing a great-spirit of a great-mountain which has a bellyful of scorching fires and molten-lava... a spirit which is so angry that it can’t calm itself, no matter what others might say, it just... impatiently can’t wait to erupt its own summit to show the world its... rage. However... in the end of the story, it gives the world just another... volcano! sooner or later its belly would empty, and its flowing rivers would run-dry and... solidify, then some would come to mine its body and leave it full of nests for beasts and men. Geezer there gives me the feeling of a war-veteran riddled with wounds of the past and taking his warrior-retreat after hitting some kind of wall, too bad though... because I like this calm and collected mentality above all else. Back to topic then... shall we? the reason I called you blind and single-minded is because you're—like I said before—a mountain! a mountain which is envying the sky, just because it always seem taller than you, since it’s always looming over you, since its clouds cast their shadows on you, since its storms drench you with their rain or strike you with their bolts. While forgetting—or not knowing at all—that a mountain... no-matter how short it’s, is already taller than most trees, while trees no matter how-many... only make a forest, give that forest one bolt of lightning from the sky—which burdens the shortest of mountains for years and years—and it would be gone in a sea of fire one day and left a swath of ash stretching to the end of the expanse itself on the next day! no matter how big a forest is... the mountain can contain a forest but no forest can contain a mountain, because sooner or later the mountain outlasts time itself while forests come and go rise and fall. But we were comparing a mountain to the sky... how come there’s a forest? you must be thinking so right! hehe... I thought so. Well... actually what you see of any mountain is the shortest and smallest part of their body, much shorter than the actual size of the mountain itself... like an iceberg which appear flat on the surface of the water yet below that there’s a mountain’s worth of solid stone-like frost, mountains are like that too and underground, just like trees their roots extend deep in the earth itself, in fact... some mountains are actually taller than the sky. You just have to look down and find your root, because only after knowing your root can you look-up towards the sky and start comparing sizes, because without knowing yourself... you can’t make a correct estimation of your abilities, maybe you’ll meet an enemy which you can take head-on but... since you don’t know your true abilities, you might start doubting yourself instead and end-up losing because of it. That's why I called you blind and simpleminded... but let’s add impatient to your character. who knows? maybe after knowing your root you'll find that the sky is only seeking your favor because you're earth itself! and the sky without your existence would lose its home.” Lin spoke long and his words made the crewmates puzzled and confused like nothing before in their lives but... that didn’t happen to the five spirit-cultivators on this ship. All of them had a glow in their eyes while listening to these words... even Wei the "blessed-fool" felt like there’s a sledgehammer beating repeatedly with extreme force against the bottleneck which kept preventing him from reaching the eighth-stage! especially after hearing Lin’s analogy which mentioned the bolts of lightning causing entire forests to disappear. However... the one who felt Lin's words tear-out at the feelings of negative-emotions which accumulated within his chest over the years... years of emotional-solitude! which he spent silence while questioning and doubting himself... and wondering : 'Is it true? I'm simple and I’ve always knew it but... is it true? is it true that I have no future? is it true that I have no chance of reaching the peak of spirit-cultivation? is it true that the reason I’m slowly advancing my cultivation is because I’m not smart like Wang and the other?' But after hearing these words from Lin... Zhang instantly felt his affinity for the earth-element clearer and way much closer while his understanding of the fire-element deepened after comprehending that going full-power with every hit doesn’t mean... better. Since he isn’t a volcano... and even these natural-disasters eventually run-out of their energy in the end! the strong man always approached the element of earth and its energy by accepting its heavy and solid, strong and firm, cold and rough states but... after the words of the boy hit home. Zhang was able to notice how he missed that earth can also be... caring and accommodating, deep and mysterious, rich and healthy! while the element of fire can be used to destroy and burn... it can also be used to refine and allow for an easier manipulation of the element of earth... and from the look of it... there’s more yet to be discovered.

Suddenly... the strands of elements in the surroundings of the ship were stirred and these strands began racing towards Tang Wei's body! meanwhile the lightning-energy inside this fatty’s body started growing gradually and rabidly whenever he drew the purple-strands of lightning-energy... but the purity of this man’s lightning-energy is way less than the time-energy which Lin got to witness Mia use to breakthrough to the tyrant-realm a month or so earlier.

Lai frowned slightly because what’s happening means that he’s no longer the person with the highest attainment among the five spirit-cultivators within the ship... six! since the brat is going to join them from here on... Wei might be considered stronger than Lai actually if... he took refining his lightning-energy seriously but... the fool has his mind set and have been always too focused on making money to the best of his abilities instead.

Zhang was currently feeling very eager to return to his meditation and to cultivate his spirit-energy to check the difference after these comprehensions but... even if he felt like he’s gained some comprehensions when it comes to the daos of earth and fire. This simple man is feeling more eagerness to continue his duel with this Lin... win or lose doesn’t matter because Zhang is intending to ask Lin to become his friend afterwards! that’s actually something extraordinary... for simple-minded Zhang to ask someone to be his friend is simply and practically... impossible! since except for members of the five-clans... the man has never once had any of the "outsiders" his "friends" because people who aren’t from the five-clans... can never trusted. In fear of having outsiders taking advantage of his simple and direct personality... Zhang shunned the entire world! that way he wouldn’t be fooled by people who might be aiming to conspire against the five-clans... since it happened before to someone from the Liao-clan... then it might just happen to him next. That time if it wasn't for old Tao’s sacrifice... then Wei's older brother would've been kidnapped! had the plans of their enemies succeeded? then the five-clans—which were poor and struggling to sustain themselves with too little resources—would've been forced to pay the hefty ransom anyway in the end. Simply because at that time there was no Tang Wei at all and his older-brother was the only legitimate heir to the Tang clan. After Tang Hao—which is Tang Wei's older brother—was secured back to the territories of the main-clan... it was later discovered that their mother is pregnant with little-Wei! however... their father was held captive during that unfortunate incident. Their father—current patriarch of the Tang clan—was ransomed for almost all of what the five-clans could offer... which caused the five-clans to suffer from poverty in the following years! yes... every member of the five-clans struggled... they struggled for years just to keep themselves from getting bankrupt... some elders and grand-elder within the clan abstained from taking any spirit-resources from the treasuries while hoping that their efforts would allow the juniors from their five-clans the opportunity to awaken their martial-spirits... hoping for a genius to be born... a genius that would inherit the legacy of their "ancestor" but in the end their wait didn’t end. Some of them watched in despair while their children and grandchildren lose their chance to become spirit-cultivators! doomed to walk the spirit-world for the rest of their lives while being weak and helpless... mortals. Because ever since Wei’s great-grandfather was schemed-against by a few people with supreme authority within the cultivation-alliance... what followed after that catastrophic-incident was the "wolves" of this world of cultivation who sniffed the smell of fresh blood on the weakened, injured, and bloodied Tang clan! the Tang clan of the southern-continent... formerly one of the great-clans within the southern-continent... fell into decay when the main-pillar of the clan a stage-seven spirit-sovereign got beaten to the ground of this world of cultivation. Now the person with the highest-cultivation within the five-clans is only... a stage-one spirit-king! that person has to constantly remain within Tang-city to protect and guard the future of not only the Tang clan but also the Liao, Zhang, Wang, and Peng clan. The security of these five-clans combined... is his only responsibility in life.

Five-clans... five-clans of spirit-cultivators within this spirit-world and having only one low-grade spirit-king is nothing to frighten these people who hold evil-intentions! there's countless people within this world of cultivation who could trample over the coalition of the five-clans... if they feel like it... without having to worry about the consequences of angering the Dou or Cai empires.

“I like the look in these eyes... much better, good minion... the earlier looks were weak and didn’t suit someone who’s so, large and buffy... like yourself! go-on... make your move big guy, these rowdy minions over there, they’re for the result of our duel... to win some money from it... that is... if you’re able to win.” Lin ignored Tang Wei's ongoing breakthrough and gestured for Zhang to begin since Wei seems to be too busy to even talk right now.

“En. Lin... you be careful too, because when I use my spirit-energy, I can become a lot faster and stronger, much more than when we clashed before.” Zhang took his fighting pose and warned Lin... but the boy only smiled in return.

“Whoosh...”

Zhang was really a lot faster than before but despite how swift this first attack of his might seem to onlookers because it’s quick enough to cross these ten meters in less than a blink... Lin is sure that the previous punch which was thrown towards is his face is... only a polite introduction from the simple man who’s testing the water and probing the limits of his opponent.

'Despite how big and fierce he look like when he’s throwing these strong attacks, this Zhang is actually... being careful not to hurt me! hehe... he's kind-of cute, but I won't go easy on you just because you are trying to go easy on me. That’s me being respectful towards you.' Lin thought while only leaning back just before the right-hook hit his jaw! then answered with his own attack but... his right-fist only extended forward in a right-straight until it reached the end of his shorter-reach! his smaller fist stopped quite far from its target... the height difference has been always quite troublesome for the boy who liked to head-hunt whenever he’s in a boxing match with the grown-ups back in the village... good thing that this duel isn’t one the great-sage has to keep himself handicapped anymore.

“Heheh-”

“Pa...”

One crewmate began to laugh loudly when he saw Lin’s shorter arm punch nothing but thin air. However... that person’s laughter was strangled in his throat when the brownish-red energy of the energy-armor—which covered the entirety of the spirit-grandmaster’s body—on Zhang's face got pressed inwards by what would appear to be the impression of an imaginary fist! that hit was strong enough to make Zhang's neck bend and force it to snap backwards... from the looks of it this strong man... just received a perfectly-timed counter just when his forward momentum was at its last point of extending.

“Tsk,” Wang clicked his tongue when he saw Zhang receive a direct-hit from the very beginning because this idiot went easy on his opponent... he was frustrated even more because Lin didn't use these pair of gold-wings—which probably could've allowed him to quite effortlessly fly circles around the bigger man—but... the most important question right now is... how exactly did he hit Zhang? “Old Tao.” Turning to look towards the side... Wang asked the most experienced member on this ship.

“Soul-force,” But Lai was the one who answered Wang’s confusions instead... because his own martial-spirit not only has hypnotic-abilities but also passively heighten his senses towards ethereal-energies like space, time, death, illusion, weapon-intent, and soul-force. “Soul-force at the realm of soul-eye, at the very least... he’s probably a clone! the execution of that previous ability was... effortless, just like when he flicked you once before.” When Lai continued to say the rest Wang listened in silence and ignored the comment at the end from Lai the bully and resumed watching the fight... meanwhile even Tao began seeing Lin under a different kind of... light! earlier he did indeed feel the soul-force from the boy but... he didn't expect it to be this high-ranked... that’s way beyond high already when senior soul-cultivators are being mentioned. When Lai said "probably a clone" the blade-user had a look on his face which meant that he’s certain of his own guess! not hesitating about what he felt earlier.

“Good,” Zhang said then used the fingers of his right-hand to massage his nose—which felt the sting from that last punch—then smiled widely, “Lin. This time be extra careful alright! because I’ll be allowing my martial-spirit to assist me, and using the long-range abilities of my spirit-techniques. Hey! old Tao... activate the protective-formations already, I don't want young-master Wei to deduct from my monthly-wages if I broke anything again.” Zhang took his stance once again... but this time his minotaur didn’t remain passive in place! that half-ox half-man martial-spirit lowered its stance further towards the wooden-deck of the ship and pointed its horns pointed towards Lin... then fire was ignited between the minotaur's horns and on its hoofs. Meanwhile... Zhang himself grew a pair of horns on his head—which are similar to the horns of his minotaur—but they were made from fire and earth-energy and not actual horns! both of the strong man’s feet and arms became covered in another layer of that fire and earth-energy which made him resemble his minotaur’s formidable-aura. Sun immediately stood-up at Lin's shoulder and looked to be excited to see the fire-energy on Zhang's body.

“No! you're not going to join the fight, this is my fight, so stay still or... just go sit to the side.” Lin gave Sun a side-glance and said that but... the orange-kitten jumped down and stood next to his feet then activated red fire-energy on the four of its cute paws! from its gestures this tiger in kitten-form is hoping to convince its buddy that... it too can fight.

“Another secret huh!... you really have some nerves, but the answer is still... no, behave and I might allow it... that means later.” While shaking his head... Lin still refused.

“Meow...” Lin shrugged when he saw Sun give him a begrudging-look then run towards the gunwale of the ship to sit. Meanwhile... Tao placed a spirit-crystal in a node within a hidden-compartment near the cockpit then close it! at once inscription and runes appeared everywhere on the surface, sides, and belly of the ship... these runes were glowing faintly then they flickered twice before the glow strengthened during the third-time then the inscriptions and runes vanished all-together. Beneath his feet... the boy felt like the wooden-deck of this ship just became an augmented and reinforced-concrete that could withstand earthquakes of the twelfth-degree.

“Shall we?” Lin fluttered his pair of wings and floated upwards half a meter in the air then told Zhang to make his move... for the third time today! not hesitating anymore... this simple man gestured with his left-palm upwards and below from the boy... one brown spike from earth-energy appeared and from the trajectory of that spike it’s heading to impale his leg! meanwhile the fireball—which was previously between the two horns of the minotaur horns—flew towards Lin's chest... then both Zhang and his minotaur dashed towards Lin from the left and right sides in a pincer-attack. These attacks came from below, ahead, and from the flanks. Every eye within the ship—except for Wei—was on the floating boy... these people nervously watched while the brown spike of the earth-energy pierced his thigh! then the fireball passed through his body and left a wide hole on his chest... followed by the two punches from the flanks which successfully landed at Lin’s head and stomach then passed through his body after burning it all the same... gradually what was left of the boy’s intact-body just faded into thin-air. Nothing remained of him whatsoever! leaving Zhang and everyone else on the ship looking like idiots... the mortal-crewmates thought the kid was burned to ash! while the four spirit-grandmasters kept looking around searching for Lin... because they couldn't figure-out just how did the boy just vanish? one moment they could follow his movements just fine... then in the next moment he disappeared like a ghost. Such insane speed... should never be something which a spirit-apprentice of the first-stage could achieve! soul-cultivators are not famous for their speed after all... this is something new... the only thing that comes to mind is the pair of huge gold-wings on Lin’s back. Even Peng Tao with his pair of hawk-eyes... was opening his mouth and closing it in disbelief while searching-around with his eyes.

“Pa!...”

Another impression of a fist appeared on Zhang's jaw and the hit sent his jaw snapping! his neck was forcefully twisted in the direction where the previous strike forced the strong man to look but—thankfully for his own safety—the layer of energy-armor absorbed most of the force... yet it got deformed inwards to the absolute limit.

“How do you fight this? how do you fight what you can't see? how do you fight what you can’t touch? Zhang wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on the boy... he struggles against my speed, but there’s no comparison between me and Lin... at all!” Wang had such a look of extreme-longing on his face while he spoke... longing for such speed! not power... the handsome-man always hated something about his martial-spirit which is... its natural-affinity. Wang has the martial-spirit of an ice-leopard... since ice isn't an element which is famous for its agile-characteristics the handsome-man was never satisfied with his attainments! when it comes to speed... Wang always wanted more for himself. That's why the handsome-man always envied each and every spirit-cultivator who has the natural-affinity for lightning or wind! even his best-friend who has the natural-affinity to dual cultivate both elements of earth and fire... became the target for Wang’s envy sometimes. Because unlike him... Zhang—at least—have the advantages of strength and the sturdy defense which are the benefits from the element of earth... plus destruction and velocity which are the benefits from the element of fire! meanwhile Wang only have better and finer control of his element of ice which helps him in creating what would seem like... an elegant-defense. Yet... his passion which is to be faster than any opponent that he ever gets to confront... suffocates the handsome-man because he always dreams of the moment where he gets to dance-around his opponents completely-unharmed while inflicting damage at them in return... how cool is that! alas... Wang was born under the wrong star of something... because of all the elements available for cultivators to gain... he received ice! which means that Wang can only be able to learn how to use the elements of wind, lightning, fire—or even the light-element why not though? especially since he witnessed the boy in action—after he breaks-through to the tyrant-realm. But... it’s been hard to ascend even a single stage lately... the handsome-man’s last breakthrough happened three years ago! which makes his situation seem like... Wang’s latent-potential can only take him so far without having to rely on spirit-resources.

“This kid isn't simple... he can fly using these pair of gold-wings, and that's understandable since his martial-spirit should at least give him that advantage early-on his road of cultivation but... an advantage that extends during the entirety of four major-realms is just... wicked and seem really unfair! he’s certainly going to be a nuisance to those from his generation. Sigh... when I sensed the purity of the light-energy within these golden-wings, I was really expecting Lin to be fast but... not that unbelievably fast! no-matter how much I try to calm... I just can’t hold my agitation.” Lai said while looking everywhere for any sign of Lin.

Zhang wasn't fazed or worried after losing sight of his opponent. While standing back to back with his minotaur... the strong man’s wide oxen eyes remained vigilant and focused! he really seemed to be enjoying the difficulties of this fight with Lin.

“Meow!...” Sun wasn't satisfied at all with this dullness and seemed to be urging his buddy to stop playing games with his opponent and keep slugging until this "dude" submits.

“Hush now! it won't be fun to finish this fight quickly.” Lin's sound came from Zhang's back and he was shocked because there—in that position—should be his minotaur! it’s impossible because that’s his own martial-spirit... whatever the minotaur experiences Zhang instantly knows.

“Pa!...” Another punch on his jaw awakened Zhang—who just lost his focus for a moment—but... before the man got to raise his concentration once again... Lin appeared just ahead of his face! the last thing Zhang got to see before his neck was forcefully twisted in the opposite direction was the boy’s small fist heading for the man’s jaw from the other side... an action of pure reflex and muscle-memory happened and Zhang's left palm was up to receive the punch—which he thought was coming—yet... that simple mistake allowed the boy to find a better angle to strike while flying circles around the minotaur who attempted to block his way! Lin just ignored it and attacked the man.

“Pa... pa-pa-pa-pa.” Countless punched landed on Zhang's energy-armor like a rain of heavy-anvils or a meteor-shower! each and every one of these punches was delivered personally by the two fists of the boy... the man could only opt to retreat in the end while using his minotaur like some kind of a meat-shield.

“Looks like insisting on using my two fists to win... would make me injure myself instead! your energy-armor is perfectly minimizing the damage, it’s slightly annoying,” Lin said after all the afterimages of himself disappeared from around Zhang and his minotaur... the boy was rubbing the skin on his knuckles while he spoke to remove the buzzing-itch from these joints! despite being strong enough to lift a stone which is weighing two-hundred and fifty kilograms... he couldn't deliver enough weight behind his punches to bypass the energy-armor around Zhang's body. 'If it weren’t because my bones are not strong enough yet... and my body is still developing, then I would’ve won without using anything else besides the strength of my body and my wings to assist me in maneuvering in this spar.' If any of these guys got to know what Lin was thinking... maybe they would choke to death or something! “Big guy... since your energy-armor is strong enough to receive my hits, and I’m too fast for you catch then... this isn’t really going to end any time soon! don’t you agree?” The boy spoke and the simple man nodded then honestly replied : “ I agree... but I’ve always been confident in my stamina though.” The corner of Lai’s right-eyelid twitched when he heard these words... because that confidence which this simpleton gained of his own abilities was earned after sparring with the blade-user himself! Wang saw the reaction from Lai and snickered inwardly at how his best-friend must’ve caused some heart-demons for this bully. Tao smiled widely after hearing that answer and waited to see how Lin would deal with Zhang when he’s in his stubborn-mood. “You really seem like someone who’s confident in his stamina... but you should be careful with your words... just a little! because saying that exact line which you previously said to me, would get you misunderstood for a pervert if you said it to other people... hahaha,” Lin smirked and replied then laughed... but his words just caused Zhang to lean his head to the side in confusion! meanwhile the ladies blushed and glared towards this naught-boy who’s teasing this kind and adorable man... while the men gawked because they missed the perverted-meaning in the words which the strong man said earlier because this fight has been the first to last this long... the tension and excitement is beyond what they can take already. Yet... this kid is calm enough to crack jokes? honestly though... he took them all by surprise. But they can’t laugh out-loud or boss Zhang would be saddened! this is torture for these crewmates. “Never-mind... how about we decide the winner of this duel with a small game?” Lin shook his head and offered a change of the rules... earlier in the beginning of the fight—when the boy punched Zhang with his soul-force—Lin wasn't punching Zhang in vain! the great-sage was testing to see if he used his soul-force—in a not so serious way—he wouldn't badly hurt Zhang. “What game?” Zhang asked while feeling good after hearing the previous compliment from Lin about his defense—the man completely ignored the "stamina" thing—but this boy is really strong for someone around his age! if Lin and Zhang were of the same age then... it would've been a very humiliating experience for the man. At the same age... Zhang used to think that he's the strongest person within the juniors of the five-clans... now this thought seems laughable after meeting this boy. Not only does this interesting kid surpass Zhang in speed despite the difference in age and spirit-cultivation! but also exceeded his expectations with all that strength of his... these punches didn’t tickle his skin like he thought they would after activating his energy-armor... these punches left a stinging-pain instead! wherever they fell on the strong man’s body. Now all of his body is still recovering from the tingling on his skin after that onslaught of punches... that great barrage did really leave an aftereffect. Zhang being able to see Lin just breathing normally after doing all that action previously makes it even more unbelievable... Zhang's younger-version would be laying on the floor bloodied if it was in his place right now instead.

“Since I’ll be using my soul-force next... then there's no need to fight anymore. If you could take three steps forward under the restraints of my soul-force then... you win this duel! if not then... let's say that I hope that you accept your loss like a reasonable man.” Lin shrunk the range of his soul-sense to five kilometer radius and waited for the answer of his opponent. The boy felt like he could press this man—face first—to the floor and keep him there! if he willed his viscous soul-force to restrain Zhang right now.

“Alright! I accept.” Zhang nodded then his spirit-energy on the layer of energy-armor ignited in a brighter brown and red colors but... the eyes of this man were filled with too much excitement and glowed with the dangerous brightness of someone who just can’t wait to engage in battle.

“Fuck me... this boy is definitely a clone! his grandfather... senior Ming said that he's already in the realm of soul-keeper, myself and Wei could accept that fact since his grandfather is a senior... from what he effortlessly demonstrated to all of us—once senior Ming arrived—clearly proves what he’s capable of but... a soul-clone in this young age is... just unbelievable. What kind of monstrously amazing clan of cultivators... could make this freak of a genius? I'm getting Goosebumps just thinking about it.” Lai shivered when he felt the soul-force in the air all-over around them thickening and increasing in strength and pressure... while the blade-user spoke the soul-force kept rising and rising some more in the way it restricted everything around the boy! in the end there was some sort of invisible-walls protecting Lin... these walls are formed completely from soul-force and extended upwards towards the sky.

“Since I don't know how much can you really handle... listen-up big guy. I’ll keep adding pressure gradually while telling you how much that pressure is until my pressure reach its maximum-strength... don’t you dare think that I’m tricking with this order or anything! because if I go full-power on you from the get-go... I might actually make your soul go boom so... I’ll take it step by step. You did say something about "stamina" before... then let’s put it to the test, if you can’t withstand at least that much! then you wouldn't be able to even walk three steps forward in the end... and it would be considered your loss... deal?” The boy explained and the simple man thought about it for a second then nodded and said : “Deal then.” but he didn’t see how the crewmates snickered discreetly when the word stamina was mentioned once again. Peng Tao nodded when he witnessed how calmly and efficiently this kid handled Zhang’s stubborn-side in the end.

Lin focused his soul-force to box Zhang and his minotaur then started to shrink the box with these two at the center... at once the energy-armor started to fight the pressure away from Zhang's body while the man himself tried to remain focused because the pressure on his consciousness was much stronger... if he let his guard-down for a second then he would be knocked-out and his minotaur would be deactivated and vanish. The minotaur itself was struggling to stand correctly without wobbling from side to side or back and forth by the effect of this pressure... while the fires on its body seems to be extinguished by that soul-force! yet they kept being ignited back then extinguished and the cycle continued to no end.

“His speed is phenomenal and his physical-strength is admirably beyond his age... the kind which you only get to see from the juniors of barbarians which are gifted with extremely-pure bloodline! his soul-force is worlds ahead and generations away from his peers... he's a little monster alright, him being entrusted to young-master Wei is some kind of fortune for the young-master and... one kind of god-sent opportunity for our five-clans. Even if senior Ming decided to stay aloof from our matters in the end, then just getting to know the boy right now... hopefully! would be a great help to young-master Wei in the future.” Tao said while smoothening his long beard with his thin and long fingers but... the gaze this old man gave Lin was from an experienced-person who’s admiring an amazing-talent which should be treasured... and admired.

“Right! despite how tyrannical he might seem from the way he acts... this boy seems to click with Zhang pretty well, when was the last time? have any of you saw Zhang have that look in his eyes before?” Wang nodded while looking towards his best-friend who started to show signs of really struggling under that soul-pressure! the energy-armor on Zhang’s body was thinning-out after getting stuck to his body like "tights" then the surface of the thin-energy-armor began to ripple like the surface of some lake struck by the winds of a storm... these circles appeared faster and spread faster.

Zhang grit his teeth under the pressure and looked towards Lin with a pair of excited eyes... the simple man challenged the boy to add more soul-pressure with these encouraging looks! his minotaur bent its oxen-knees slightly to lower its posture then arched its wide-back to withstand the heavy burden of the pressure. The fire-energy and earth-energy—which Zhang and his minotaur sent through their feet or hoofs to stabilize their position—assaulted the protective-formations below and from time an inscriptions or rune would glow then fade but... the formation held-on just fine by sending all of that energy travelling from the surface of the deck to the water below and around the ship! which caused waves to be formed and these circular-waves around the ship moved outwards from around the ship... after each percentage-increase of soul-force and soul-pressure from Lin... the waves formed around the ship became higher. The three spirit-grandmasters and the hundreds of crewmates were holding tight to something and looking at the scene around them with fear and amazement... this kid just caused a natural-phenomenon once he became slightly serious! unbelievable strength... unbelievable speed... unbelievable control... unbelievable abilities... unbelievable soul-power.

“Big guy. So far you held-on very well... but I'm afraid that you wouldn't be able to stay awake, your soul might be injured badly if I increase the soul-pressure anymore... that’s seventy-percent of my soul-force! goo-” Lin smiled when he noticed how Zhang's energy-armor started to weaken and fade-away under this restraining-pressure of soul-force... the boy wanted the strong man to accept his loss since there’s no need to embarrass him after he did his best! seeing Zhang sweating bullets from numerous pores on his skin and his legs beginning to shake while veins popped all-over his body... made everyone who got to witness it admire his tenacity. The frightened crewmates would nervously look around them at the tall-waves—which covered their vision from being able to see their surroundings—and hope that Zhang would throw-in the towel... because things are becoming really... really scary already! but none of them could voice these wishes... because they felt like it would be unfair to say anything that might discourage this simple and adorable fellow. He’s enduring the pressure which is causing these waves to form on the water around them... while they’re not being affected by anything at all! since he’s doing his best then they should silently watch and pray that boss Zhang succeeds to withstand the one-hundred percent of that so-called soul-pressure and walk the three steps... then snatch this brat by the waist and flip him over then spank him for being naughty! but above all else... he should spank him for causing them to lose their money on the previous bet. “Mmh-oorre!...” The strong man interrupted Lin by grunting that answer from in-between the gritted-teeth since he couldn’t move his jaw... the look on Zhang’s face was practically pleading the boy to continue with these eyes. “Big guy. Are you sure?” Lin asked and the answer was quick from the simple man who whimpered, “As you wish... seventy-five percent,” Lin smiled while looking with admiration at Zhang's tenaciousness... then he added more pressure, “Eighty-percent.” The boy notified the simple man before adding more pressure.

“Heh... just look at Zhang’s face and you’ll instantly understand how excited he’s right now.” Wang smirked then nudged Lai with his shoulder to annoy the bully.

“Nobody of us wouldn't be excited if we trade places with Zhang right now! try and sense how much of the spirit-energy within his body is being compressed and refined by the second, and you’ll understand just why he’s excited... this simple and kind fellow is really fortunate, Zhang has always been complaining about how the purity of his spirit-energy just isn't good enough to allow him to reach the next stage, now not only is his spirit-energy being refined but also his physique... and his soul itself. In a sense... he’s being refined as a whole by soul-force! soul-force isn't just some invisible-energy that can be used to hurt us, if used correctly... that same energy can be used to locate flaws in our foundations. Then soul-force can be used as a tool to fix these hidden-imperfections in our foundations! right now... Zhang is like pieces of raw iron inside a forge, while being in the middle of that extremely fierce fire... he’s getting hammered over and over to remove impurities... once that step is over he would shine with the brightness of pure steel. I bet that if this honest guy hadn't experienced the phenomenon of washing-impurities twice before, then his skin would've been oozing lots of the nasty-stink right now... first it was young-master Wei receiving sudden-enlightenment after hearing the words from the kid, and he’s about to breakthrough... then now Zhang has fifty-percent chance to reach the next stage in his spirit-cultivation... at least!” Tao said while watching—with his yellow hawk-eyes—how Zhang is struggling yet somehow enduring the soul-pressure with his minotaur which hasn’t been forced to be deactivated yet.

“Why do I suddenly feel bad for the money which you guys made me bet against the kid?” One of the people—who changed their mind and bet their money on Zhang instead of betting-on Lin once again—glared at her friends while holding-on tightly to the robes tied to the gunwale.

“Eh!...”

“eek!...”

“Fuck!... I made a mistake.”

“Me too!... boss Zhang really doesn’t seem to be capable of withstanding eighty-five percent of that kid’s soul-pressure.”

“Do your best big-brother Zhang... fight!”

“Shameless!... old-Cao, you’re calling boss Zhang "big brother!" hehehe... you're almost sixty years old already, while boss Zhang is only twenty-nine years old. Where's your face?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

“hmmm... you’re right madam Bo, he’s shameless indeed... that man of mine has gone senile after spending years in the sea talking to the fish.”

“Kekeke... sister Ling knows best.”

“Fuck-off! all of you... I gave young-master Wei one yellow-coin, if losing my face means keeping all my money... then I would've tore it off long ago. Shit! he really looks like he’s at the end of his ropes over there... you can do it.”

“Heh. You bunch of fools!... you really shouldn’t have been swayed by these losers to change sides in the first place, tsk... what a bunch of amateurs and green-horns. My money is on "young-master Lin" for the second time now, but... this time I gambled fifty red-coins instead of two, which means? damn-right! I get to win one yellow-coin and... fifty red-coins! plus the fifty red-coins which I gambled. That's two yellow-coins filling my pockets! hahaha... when we reach the harbor, I’ll be spending some long and comfortable time listening to the best music in cloud-pavilion and having some drinks with the girls... of course I’ll be paying with your money! cheers in advance... smile everyone, life is so fun... don’t waste it with a frown on your face.” The—monkey-like—crewmate jumped around between his co-workers and showered them with annoying words and a much more annoying attitude.

“Shut-up already! y-you ape... boss Zhang didn't lose, this isn’t over yet.” Someone finally couldn’t hold his bellyful of frustration and spoke to encourage his fellow crewmates who gambled on Zhang.

“Kekeke... ninety-percent soul-pressure, just take a look for yourselves! don’t tell me that none of you has noticed that "young-master Lin" has been increasing the duration of the intervals between each increase more and more... he’s been intentionally taking it slow to allow boss Zhang to adapt... before he increased the soul-pressure by five-percent... but for a while now he’s been increasing it one-percent at a time and... don’t tell me that none of you people has noticed that he stopped increasing the pressure after it reached the mark of ninety-percent? clearly boss Zhang would be injured if he did... even if he got-up on his feet and took the three steps forward, he still loses the bet.” The frustrated crewmates couldn’t refute these words and silently accepted the criticism.

While the crewmates glared at each other or argued with one another... Zhang—who’s forced to kneel on a single-knee and gasping while his two palms pushed the wooden-deck to prevent himself from kissing the floor with his face—and his minotaur— which was forced to support its two thick arms on the floor seemed to be able to hold-on while on all fours but the fires on its body was completely extinguished yet what replaced it was a thick layer of brown-energy which is formed from the element of earth—somehow held-on against the ninety-percent soul-pressure! albeit with the skin of their teeth... obviously any further increase would eliminate any of his chances to stand-up.

“Argh!...” With a howling-grunt... Zhang began to slowly push-against that soul-pressure and rise after staying—for a short while—in that kneeling-position! his face flushed red from fighting against the mountain-like heaviness of this soul-pressure. After an entire minute of trying... the strong man was back on his feet once again.

“Good fighting-spirit, good! I can add more pressure if you want... what do you say about that? since you seem to be enjoying it so much, or you can walk your three steps now... if you can then you win, even if that isn’t the maximum-output of my ability. You decide for yourself,” Lin clapped encouragingly then offered his last offer. “hnghtt... mhhm... gooh...” Zhang tried his best to convey his message with these sounds and the boy shrugged then increased the pressure from ninety-percent to ninety-one.

“Why does it feel like... he's toying with Zhang?” Lai smiled ruefully while asking old Tao.

“Did you already forget? he's just a kid... remember!” Wang muttered while feeling his stomach roil in disgust after witnessing for himself the many amazing talents of this Lin—which made the handsome-man feel how monstrous this boy is—who naturally can make others scream the word unfair after seeing for themselves.

“To me... he seems like someone who’s testing the extent of his abilities, of course he’s testing the capabilities of Zhang in the meanwhile, but... somehow, I feel like he's being careful, very careful for Zhang's sake... that is. Remember back in your childhood-days? whenever you had some favorite-toy... you would be too careful not to break it whenever you use it, he’s doing the same to Zhang right now.” Tao shook his head while feeling sorry for the juniors of this world in this era! because the oldest and most experienced spirit-cultivator on this ship just imagined a scene where this boy Lin... is in any sort of competition against his those from his generation... that would be unfair to call such an event... a competition! for the boy that is going to feel like... just some game with weaklings. Other than the supreme-geniuses from the five great-sects... or those which are fortunate enough to be born with an insane amount of talent and latent-potential! then nobody—from his generation—could make this boy struggle a single bit... what about winning against the kid? Peng Tao doesn’t see it actually happening at all... no matter how good of a fight and no matter how much effort these juniors from the younger-generations gave to beat the boy... simply because Peng Tao can't see how these juniors could become better than that Lin. The set of latent-potential and talent which this kid has... plus his current abilities and attainment in the system of soul-cultivation! has already transcended the category which associates and encompasses the attainments of juniors... in a way... the attainments of this boy has visibly surpassed many seniors. But... Peng Tao is still confused about one thing when it comes to this Lin which didn't "click" because despite that kid being that unbelievably-monstrous when it comes to soul-cultivation... Lin is still only a spirit-apprentice of the first-stage when it comes to spirit-cultivation! how could the boy’s spirit-cultivation be so low? especially since it’s common-knowledge how any soul-clone can progress with insane speed in the first fe major-realms of spirit-cultivation... even if they’re not blessed with a martial-spirit to begin with! these individuals can forcefully unlock and expand the dantian-space within their bodies. 'Is it possible... that he's just not talented in spirit-cultivation? no... that’s very unlikely, since the kid already proved that can use his spirit-wings to move at insane speed! it means that he already has control over his martial-spirit... which means that he spent time working on refining his control... not to mention that the light-energy we all feel from these pair of gold-wings on Lin’s back is pure enough to elevate any spirit-apprentice to higher-stages within that major-realm! then... why’s he still in the first-stage. According to my estimations... the boy should—at least—be in the third-stage! maybe even the fourth-stage.' Peng Tao thought while looking towards Lin... this boy—which just mysteriously appeared out of nowhere—is certainly going to become such stunning character in the future... those from the younger-generation with less talent than the boy would be the victim of rumors and gossip! the talk of idle people and envious-cultivators everywhere around the world is a source of fame and a method to spread their name yet... no matter how much he squeezed his memory... Tao is certain that he never heard of this Lin before—which should be unlikely to happen within the spirit-world—because even supreme-geniuses from the other continents gets tabulated, ranked, and reported within the latest news from many organizations who gather and sell intel... their frequent and regular updates leave nothing hidden from the ears and eyes of cultivators! for the right price... of course. But somehow... Lin just wasn't included in any one of these "updates" which is... mind-boggling! because if the five great-sects couldn’t hide such sensitive-information about the geniuses of their sects from these intel-gathering organizations... then how could this boy—which is much more talented—avoid these organizations? the oldest cultivator on the ship felt like this kid is surrounded by a thick halo of mystery.

“Big guy. What comes next would be the full-extent of my soul-force, so don’t bother yourself with the three steps anymore... just focus on withstanding the brunt of it, because if you endure it for ten seconds then it’s considered your win! remember what I said before... about mountain and roots.” Lin reminded Zhang then shrunk and limited the range of his soul-sense to only fifty meters... the extremely condensed soul-force became almost tangible and could be felt like something which has material-form! it honestly shocked Lin himself when he sensed for himself how powerful that focused soul-force is... he really felt pity for this simple man who stood at the receiving-end of such insane amount of great pressure.

“Ugh!...” Zhang’s spine buckled forward starting with his neck—which leaned downwards after his head couldn’t balance correctly anymore—after the backbreaking weight pushed-against his entire body from above! that pressure felt like the sky just fell on the shoulders of this strong man—who felt his connection with the minotaur become so weak—once most of his focus became diverted towards enduring the pressure... his martial-spirit was forcefully deactivated and vanished after two seconds from the moment this maximum-pressure began. On the third-second... Zhang was back in the position of kneeling on a single knee—he looked a lot like a loyal-subject paying respect to his liege-lord—beneath both of his palms—which he used to support himself against the deck of the ship—the runes and inscriptions of the protective-formations began to lag-behind when distributing all of this over-flooding pressure to the ocean water below the ship! that pressure caused waves reaching thirteen meters high to be sent from the ship in a circle outwards after every discharge of soul-pressure from the protective-formations. The crewmates panicked while holding-on even more tightly to anything firm and solid before they fall from the ship—which became very unstable and extremely shaky—meanwhile their eyes became filled with additional fear and despair when they witnessed the sight of the surrounding water of the ocean! the surface of the ocean ascended higher around their ship like walls of blue water.

“Is it me... or is the ship actually sinking deeper into the water of the ocean?”

“Boss Tao. I really, really think we should activate the spirit-barrier from the protective-formation, that amount of water could be... very dangerous! if this water continues to rise any further... some of us might not make it.”

“Isn't it just water? we all know how to swim already.”

“Idiot! when all that water rebounds... there would be one hell of a whirlpool, now tell me, could you swim within that? could you swim out of it too? why not take us all with you then? tsk, sea breeze must’ve salted your brain into a piece of rotten pickles!”

“Didn’t you guys notice how the water isn't moving towards us at all? it’s only moving away from the ship! it's like we're in the bottom of a deep-bowl which is made completely from water... young-master Lin is so amazing.”

The crewmates were rowdy despite this worrisome situation! meanwhile all of those who betted against Lin are currently making silent prayers right now. Peng Tao moved towards another hidden-compartment and opened it then used his spirit-energy to activate the spirit-barrier... that spirit-barrier is green in color and rippled like the surface of water! within it floated many runes and inscriptions... the way they’re stringed made it look like some sort of language. Thankfully for the crewmates... the activation of that spirit-barrier stabilized the ship... now they could normally spectate the ongoing event but... Zhang’s second knee is already touching the wooden-deck and time is only at the halfway-mark! then his elbows gave-in to soul-pressure within the sixth-second... what followed after during the seventh-second is his upper-body which began to move gradually against his will closer towards the wooden-deck of the ship. “Uuughbb!...” Zhang's defiant and wide oxen eyes widened even more when he glared and gave that grunting-voice through his gritted teeth... his dangling-lips dripped beads of saliva at the floor below it while the muscles of his arms swelled almost two sizes bigger than normal! the thin layer of energy-armor which cover his body seems to be going all-out to help the simple man alleviate some of the soul-pressure... his back feels heavy and stiff because right now Zhang really feel burdened with weights which are comparable to mountains. These mountains are leaning on his body! seemingly aiming to crush every bone in it... first the strong man was really enjoying the help that soul-pressure gave him because it compressed and refined his spirit-energy for him... then Zhang found himself unable to maintain the martial-spirit activated to help him. But now... he’s feeling like his body is failing him... his strength waned while the pressure increased! anymore and Zhang might really explode from this pressure... once he gives-in... that pressure would tear him apart.

'Up, up, up... up! Only three more seconds, and it’s all-over, and it would be my win. Up I say... you weak arms and legs.' Zhang thought while still doing his best to get back on his feet.

Lin was reminded of the mythological story of Atlas... the second-generation "titan" who’s responsible for carrying the weight of the whole world on his shoulders... but it isn't the weight of the world that Atlas carries actually! that second-generation titan carries the celestial sphere itself... most of the people who get to see the statue of the man struggling under the weight of the whole planet on his shoulder... might think that Atlas is carrying earth itself... but these people couldn't be any more wrong... because in fact that second-generation titan is carrying the sky.

“Two seconds! come-on big guy, be like earth... carry the sky.” Lin clapped to encourage his opponent... if Zhang could do it and stand then he’s certainly going to win! and Lin would be the first person to congratulate this man on this difficult-accomplishment... but it does seem like the strain on Zhang's body, soul, and spirit is more than he can endure... anymore. After the simple man’s body began to move up... the maximum-output of soul-pressure quickly stopped him in his tracks... Zhang didn’t even notice when did his head begin swimming with dizziness? meanwhile his whole body sank deeper towards the ship floor... at great speed that is! the brown and red energy-armor on his body ruptured like a bubble... luckily for him Lin was quick to respond once he noticed that Zhang is showing signs of losing consciousness which means that he wouldn’t be able to endure the whole duration of ten seconds... the boy removed the pressure of his soul-force and used counter-force to balance the momentum of the falling body! the simple man’s body slowed-down to a halt right before it hit the floor. Zhang’s body which is drenched in sweat was sprawled on the floor and the man is apparently too exhausted to move a single finger in this current condition... had that soul-pressure been left active for a second longer? then Zhang would’ve been badly injured in soul, body, and spirit... at least! had that soul-pressure been left active for a few seconds longer? then Zhang would've exploded into a mess of blood and gore... death in body and soul. But he did well so far... many with similar spirit-cultivation and natural-affinity wouldn’t be able to survive that long! why did he survive? how could he? what makes Zhang different from his peers then? in Lin’s opinion the answer is one single word which has many meanings... Guts... Will... Fortitude... Courage... Stubbornness... Confidence... that strong and simple-minded man have his own version though! which is... stamina.

“Huff... Lin, let's be friends... huff... you're so awesome... huff... you’re... the coolest kid I... huff... have ever seen in my life.” Zhang gasped for air yet he mumbled these words with his eyes closed... clearly the man’s subconscious which spoke these words while being in this state of deep sleep which! that’s something Zhang didn't experience since almost a year ago... being a spirit-cultivator means... the basic human needs of any mortal are not necessary for spirit-cultivators anymore. Sleep for instance... could be replaced with meditation! there would be no point or need to urinate or defecate—which is an essential and crucial-process for mortals to remove the toxins from their bodies—is replaced by spirit-cultivators—if they feel like it—who could use their spirit-energy to internally burn the toxins from their meals directly within their stomachs then remove whatever residue that remains within their bodies by expelling these toxins from the small-pores on their skin in the form of drops of sweat! even food and water—which are vital and imperative for any mortal to survive—could be replaced and swapped by spirit-cultivators who could use spirit-energy to sustain themselves for long durations however... sooner or later the spirit-cultivators on the low and mid major-realms within the system of spirit-cultivation would require and be of urgent need to eat and drink. Only spirit-kings and spirit-emperors plus spirit-sovereigns... those with that elevated attainment on the ranking of the pyramid of spirit-cultivation... could truly survive practically their whole life by supplying their bodies with nothing but...spirit-energy.

“Won! I Won you fools, young master Lin... you’re my lucky star, please take me with youuu, I don’t mind being your servant, or the one who gets to wash your garments... hahahahaha-oomph! y-yo-blurgh! sto-pei! cough... ptooey!” The monkey-like person was cheerfully scattering his laughter in peace... until some of the crewmates ganged-up on him to shut him up! in the end he ran away with his tail between his legs and remained on-guard against every man and woman on the ship... that situation suddenly felt threatening and the man finally understood that he’s certainly going to be targeted in the future... the only safety is near the young-masters... be that Wei or Lin... after giving it some thought that person fled towards the fatty in the end! the little kid is just too scary... what if he didn’t like it? then he could just blink one of his eyes and send him flying.

“Humph. You better learn to read the mood in the future, you fucking monkey-asshole! stop if you dare.” The helmsman was one of the assailants on monkey-man and he shouted so while trying to catch-up.

“Tsk... he fled quickly that one, I really wanted to vent-out my loss some more.” Lady-cook clicked her tongue and joined the funny chase.

“You all can go to hell... you took me by surprise is all, it’ll never happen again... you’re all sore-losers and bullies... stinky losers should shut-up and accept their loss alright! because I’m warning all of you... if you dare come after me again, then I’ll pay young-master Wei some of my money, just so he would give all of you extra work from now on. Humph! I’m not afraid of you all.” Monkey-man heard these threats and stuck-out his tongue while revealing his trump-card... he stood very close to the fatty and smiled like the monkey-king! this method is certainly going to work since their young-master Wei is weak when it comes to easy-money.

“You’re the one who should go to hell, y-you with your dog shit luck... don’t you dare go too far! bribing young-master Wei is just... playing dirty.” The helmsman stopped and glared at this sly fellow who took advantage of his wealth in the most perfect way to prevent others from bullying him. Lady-cook just snickered and shrugged... she can always play tricks on this foolish monkey-man later... since she’s the "cook" after all.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck me! my wife... she’s certainly going to kill me for real this time, how could I gamble all of my money, that was the money which I earned after working so hard all this journey yet... all is lost! lost, lost.” The person who despaired in a comical way before seem to be on the verge of crying.

“Look!... the water is going to hit the energy-barrier.”

“Will it be able to hold against all this water?”

“The fuck would I know! let the ship capsize for all I care, I lost almost all of my money.”

“This boy Lin made all this and caused all that yet he doesn't look tired at all, do you know that I once heard that brother Zhang has the best endurance among those from his generation! he’s practically... unequal among the bosses, only boss Lai could keep-up with him, but he could only do so for a while before burning-out his st-” The crewmate remembered the boy’s joke from earlier and halted his words, “Uh!... emptying his tank... I mean losing strength... n-never-mind.” But... whenever he spoke the crewmate felt like he’s just making it worse! while blushing in shame... he lowered his head and closed his mouth then went towards some inconspicuous corner to hide.

“Heh. I have a daughter around his age, maybe I should make a son-in-law of the boy! en... once we reach the harbor I’ll try and find an opportunity to introduce Lin to my Shia.”

“As if! your—bucktoothed—girl... does not even have a speck of a chance with young-master Lin, my Dia on the other hand is... in the peak of her beauty! like a flower waiting to be plucked.”

Lin just watched those around him in silence... the boy didn’t say a word when Wang came closer to carry Zhang and said nothing when the handsome-man took the strong man towards his cabin. The great-sage said nothing and watched the ocean water fall and submerge the green-colored spirit-barrier which is made from spirit-energy that’s being supplied by the protective-formations from the ship... Lin said nothing while the crewmates fought, quarreled, and bickered to release some of their frustrations which are mainly caused by the loss of their money on a gambling-event. The boy looked towards Lai who stood by Wei at the side to guard the fatty who’s been sitting cross-legged and attracting strands of lightning-energy towards his dantian for a while now... the great-sage wasn't in a hurry to continue playing with these people just yet! he preferred to just watch how these people interact with one another. After that first attempt to use the improved-version of soul-force... Lin is honestly so amazed by the ease of usage and malleable application of soul-force to accommodate his needs for any circumstances! which proves its great potential. Right now... the boy feels like he already has an unlimited number of extra arms, legs, and tools of many shapes! while smiling the great-sage remembered the sculptures of Buddha from his previous-life... sitting in peace and tranquility in a cross-legged position while from its back there’s a few dozen arms surrounding it in a fan-shape! every hand at the end of every arm... would be making a different hand-sign. 'Maybe Buddha was... some kind of soul-cultivator too!' Lin shook his head when that thought suddenly flashed inside his brain... while letting-out a faint snicker.

“Young master Lin. This "geezer" wishes to have a word with you, is it a... proper time?” Peng Tao walked towards Lin and stressed the word geezer when he spoke... but the reason this old man asserted himself in the same way which Lin stated earlier isn’t because he’s voicing his annoyance or discomfort! this man was raising the white-flag to show the boy that he would be more than happy to become a minion... clearly this method has some similarities with how a grown-up would intentionally close an eye after seeing a slightly unhealthy-behavior from some kid of their neighbors... the reason they don’t voice their advice directly is because they fear that their approach might somehow make things worse! who knows? maybe if they don’t say anything at all that kid would just forget about that behavior and be distracted with life then gradually forget in the end.

Raising an eyebrow while feeling slightly amused after hearing Tao's obvious surrender and understanding the very mature-approach from the old man... Lin nodded and waited for the older fellow to continue voicing his piece of mind! it’s always easy to manipulate the direction of the conversation while talking with people whom you know... but it’s also easy to know what strangers are after and what do they seek to know from you... when you keep your mouth shut and... listen closely... while watching attentively and focusing carefully when it comes to every detail.

“Other than your grandpa senior Ming which Lai just told us about earlier, we really... know nothing about you! young master Lin... where is your clan? or is it a sect? how old are you? how can we make you comfortable while staying with us? if it’s alright with you... all of us—especially me—would be very happy to get to know you better, since young-master Lin would be staying with us until senior Ming returns... right!” Peng Tao brought two wooden-chairs and a wooden-table from his space-ring and gestured politely for Lin to sit first before sitting in front of him and asking his questions in a non-aggressive way... the way this old man spoke demonstrated how good in persuasion he could be! because despite how very eager he was to know this boy... not a single shred of impatience or insistence appeared in his tone of voice or on Tao’s face. Even Lai didn’t blame or scorn old Tao for humbling himself while talking to this boy... after all this boy just elbowed Peng Tao flying a bit later after slamming Liao Lai face-first against the floor! in a world where it’s natural and normal to respect the capable and the strong... this ship has no-one left on it who hasn’t already elevated Lin’s power-ranking and social-status to something similar or higher to Tang Wei himself. That’s why Peng Tao—which is someone who once was a spirit-tyrant—found no shame in genuinely lowering his head to the boy! which is something that this man—would’ve never imagined in his wildest dreams—never thought that anything closer to this situation might actually happen to him someday... to have a kid suppress you while you're a grown-up is... a strange experience indeed... which is... hard to stomach.

“Meow!...”

Sun jumped on the table and seemed to be demanding something from Tao from the looks of his squinted and lazy eyes... the orange-kitten made a small flutter of its cute bat-wings and waited for its buddy to translate after it gave him a side-glance.

“Heh. Meat and drinks... he says.” Lin crossed his arms like a little lord-ling and gave a hint of encouragement to Sun to keep-up this gangster-attitude.

“Of course,” Peng Tao was completely unaffected by the hurdles which the boy and his tamed-beast intentionally placed in the way of his attempt to gather information... there’s no-one more seasoned on-board of this ship if compared with Peng Tao, “Chef-leader! prepare the finest meal that you guys can make for young-master Lin, remember... you don't need to worry about a thing when it comes to cost, go ahead and use the best ingredients we have, I’ll handle young-master Wei if he tries to make things hard for you. Be quick about it.” Tao shouted towards the rowdy crewmates which never stopped quarrelling... once these words were spoken by this old man a dozen or so of people walked towards the underground area to do their jobs and in no time they became busy preparing ingredients and tools for making food. The rest of the crewmates were debating their topics carelessly while resuming their work and Lin noticed how the green-barrier around the ship was quickly deactivated by one of the ladies before the ship resumed its previous course once the helmsman returned to his bridge. Despite how these sailors might seem like a few hundred good for nothings... these people are actually quite competent in doing their jobs.

“My clan lives in a very famous forbidden-area of this spirit-world... I'm six years and a couple months old, what do you have to do to make me comfortable? is to stop trying to dig-up around my secrets. If I trust you... then you would be hearing about them directly from me, without any regard for how kind of secret... or how deep that secret is!” When Lin spoke Peng Tao was momentarily shocked by the bluntness and direct answer from the boy! then the old man nodded and kept his mouth completely shut.

"I heard directly from the cooks that... there's some big and fancy meal—which is closer to a feast really—is being prepped especially for young-master Lin, oh! don't worry about Zhang he’s fine just... a bit exhausted that’s all.” Wang arrived after tucking in his best-friend in bed... the handsome-man was smiling widely and didn’t wait for an invite from anyone to join them! he directly retrieved a chair then sat next to old Tao while speaking to the boy naturally like it’s something which he’s used to do years ago... his ability to socially-adapt is much better if compared to the oldest person of this group of spirit-cultivators... the old man is just more experienced and reserved that’s all.

“Do I look or seem worried to you? I do believe that I deserve an honest and grateful "thank you" but that wouldn't be necessary from any of you two! now... show me your martial-spirits, I'm curious.” Lin gave Wang a side-glance then waved a hand while speaking in commanding tone of voice.

“Impudent! do it... now. Whenever young-master Lin gives you an order in the future... you follow it blindly without question! do you understand?” Peng Tao sternly said when he saw Zhang Wang being indecisive after hearing Lin's command. Meanwhile... from behind Peng Tao the boy saw a barrel-thick anaconda appear which is covered in shiny green-scales! from the anaconda's sides there’s a dozen sets of hawk-like talons which are completely black in color... from its back the huge cyan-wings unfolded in pairs then began to flutter one by one and the great-sage saw them block the sky around the green-anaconda which is twenty-five meters long and help it rise higher in the sky. This old man and his martial-spirit have the same eye-color... from these two Lin felt the swiftness of wind but... the boy instinctively felt like there's something missing from within that green-anaconda! it looks deathly and hollow instead of lively and healthy which is the feeling he received from Wang Zhang’s minotaur.

Then Zhang Wang activated his martial-spirit and Sun who was watching Peng Tao's green-anaconda in excitement and spreading his cute bat-wings which made him look like wanting to say : 'You're not the only one with wings here! don’t be cocky around me or I’ll beat you.' The tiger in kitten-form glared fiercely towards the four meters tall and beautiful-looking snow-leopard which suddenly appeared behind Wang. That leopard has thick and lush white fur on its slim yet defined body which has the right amount of muscles on it... from its head a pair of deep-green and wide eyes could be seen while lots of big black dots cover its white fur and thick long tail! even Lin felt admiration towards the fascinating and natural-beauty of this snow-leopard after seeing it and nodded but... the great-sage sensed like there's something wrong going-on between this handsome-man and his own martial-spirit.

“Meow!...” Sun was about to transform and beat this fellow who dared ignore his existence... to his face! and in front of buddy.

“Easy! buddy... it’s just a martial-spirit, like my gold-wings, they’re not alive.” Lin scratched the kitten's head and calmed it with his words.

“Looking at your anaconda... I feel like it’s wounded, is it caused by what these guys said earlier?” Lin asked Tao first and the man nodded.

“My... vitality-deterioration couldn't be treated at the opportune-period, during that time the five-clans were suffering from extreme lack of spirit-resources, after years of delay... healing these wounds has become many, many times harder now.” The old man calmly answered then patted the big, flat, and arrow-like head of his green-anaconda before deactivating it.

“You... and your snow-leopard, the two of you... don't really seem to be getting-along well with each other! at least to me... I feel like you're envying the wings on my back, from the looks on your eyes at Tao's martial-spirit back then, I’m guessing that you don’t like your martial-spirit. Do you... wish for speed that much?” Lin turned to look towards Wang—who didn't even look, touch, or move his ice-leopard since the handsome-man activated it—and asked him.

“Yes! of course I do, more than anything in the world actually, but... my natural-affinity is for the element of ice, this ice-leopard is actually quite fast however... it’s not as fast as old Tao's winged-snake for example... not to mention your wings!” Wang answered in a disheartened tone of voice while revealing the attitude of having two droopy shoulders then deactivated his martial-spirit.

“Do you even know the characteristics of ice?” Lin laughed at how idiotic this handsome Wang is being right now. Meanwhile old Tao just smiled when he witnessed the boy fearlessly poke Wang's soft-spot.

“Cold, frosty, water in its solid shape, emotionless, rough.” Wang raised his head and spoke while thinking 'Just because I don't like ice... doesn't mean that I don't know anything about it.'

“True. But... a cry from a small baby in the cradle makes a mountain worth of that rough, emotionless, solid, frosty, and cold ice... race-down on a mountain’s side and avalanche alongside many and more rocks and stones the size of this ship or bigger! all that weight just falls from the highest spot on a mountain... their peaks and summits. Listen here you overconfident-dandy... ice and snow, can be very and extremely slippery, it just makes almost anybody lose their footing if they attempt to run on top of it. However... you can be extremely fast if you use some tool to slide on top of it, have you ever thought of that? from the look on your face... you must’ve been too busy admiring others while they flew in the sky instead of thinking about fixing your problems.” Lin drummed his fingers on the surface of table and old Tao smiled widely when he noticed how Wang's breathing almost halted while his eyes dilate in obvious shock and disbelief! after a few seconds of silence... Wang instantly stood-up then gave Lin a deep and polite bow before leaving towards his room to meditate on these new-comprehensions—which accumulated on-top of the comprehensions which he gained previously—thanks to Lin.

“First was young-master Wei, then Zhang, now Wang has already received his fair-share of guidance from young-master Lin... honestly even these old bones of mine are envying their fortune.” Peng Tao said while smoothening his long beard with one of his hands then laughed like a carefree-sage.

“Wisdom is hard-earned. Wise old man... that's why only those who are incapable to achieve, are usually the ones who begin to think correctly! simply because... it helps them broaden their own horizons.” Lin pulled Sun towards his embrace and spoke while tickling the belly of his buddy.

“Long before in the years... when I was their age, I used to think that I'm invincible too just like them, if only... sigh, had I met young-master Lin at the time of my peak-glory... heh. But it isn’t so bad right now... because watching over these juniors while they grow stronger has become my only source of fun these days, I bet these senile-geezers from the five-clans would be extremely pleased with the results from this long journey this far west,” Peng Tao retrieved one of his best liquor-gourds and poured himself a cup while he spoke... when the old man bottomed-out the entirety of his full-cup he was actually smiling widely from ear to ear while looking towards Tang Wei who seems to be about to conclude this quick-session of spirit-cultivation after his breakthrough to the eighth-stage of the grandmaster-realm is over. 'Heh. Like always this fatty doesn’t care about foundation or purity, well... whatever I guess! since he’s already contributing a lot of spirit-resources to the clans, it’s much more useful to others than another individual with a slightly elevated spirit-cultivation.' Peng Tao thought then looked towards the blade-user who acted aloofly but in truth he wasn’t... Lai is sensitive and shy below his tough-act. “Idiot! come here... let young-master Lin see your martial-spirit, who knows? maybe if he's pleased with your martial-spirit and attitude, then you just might receive his guidance. With his benevolent instructions you could probably reach the next step in your cultivation.” Peng Tao called Liao Lai who stood guarding Wei to come join him and Lin.

The blade-user has been watching from the side all this time... while Lin suppressed Zhang until the simpleton lost consciousness. While the boy gave advices to Wang and soon afterwards the dandy joyfully ran to his room to digest the comprehensions he gained from the short and quick conversation! Lai even witnessed Tao smile—which is something that he can't remember when was the last time he saw it happen—then retrieve a gourd of the finest liquor in his alcohol-collection... the "snake-venom wine" which is actually made from a secret-recipe that belongs exclusively to the Peng clan! only those few individuals who are fortunate enough to actually have the winged-snake martial-spirit... or one of its variants... can make that wine by using the condensed-venom of their martial-spirits and making it the main-ingredient and brewing-material! then they age the wine... after drinking that snake-venom the person enters a state of near-death—which enables the person who drank the wine to release whatever they can unearth of their latent-potential that’s left buried—After looking towards the fatty next to his feet and sensing Wei’s spirit-energy which indicated that this lazy-fellow has already succeeded in reaching the eighth-stage of the spirit-grandmaster realm just like him despite being two years younger... Lai walked towards the vacant chair which Wang left and sat down. On the table between his two hands a ten-inch tall and grey-colored praying-mantis appeared once the blade-user sat-down but... that wasn’t the only thing that happened which grabbed Lin's attention. The long and wide blade on Lai's back—which has been always vertical—suddenly turned horizontal on its own when he sat-down without the man having to move a finger to correct or fix the position of his weapon! a similar type of energy was at work here but... in Lai's case... his energy of intent feels much weaker and crude in the way it’s controlled if compared with Mia's sword-intent from the time before the saintess experienced a breakthrough and successfully materialized her violet-sword.

“Lai's martial-spirit is unique, he’s the only one among us who has a martial-spirit with a different natural-affinity from its owner. Zhang has his minotaur which shares his natural-affinities for the elements of earth and fire, Wang has his snow-leopard which shares his natural-affinity for the element of ice, my own winged-snake shares my natural-affinities the elements of wind and wood, even young-master Wei's martial-spirit share the same natural-affinity for the element of lightning. Lai has his natural-affinities leaning towards the element of gold mainly then the element of earth takes second-priority but... his martial-spirit have hypnotic abilities is capable of casting illusions within the minds of its target, yet no fighting capabilities of its own.” Peng Tao explained the situation to Lin while Lai kept his mouth shut... Sun felt curious and jumped towards the praying-mantis and began circling around it! but the orange-kitten felt dizzy whenever it looked directly at these pair of tiny blue eyes... after scowling in annoyance the tamed beast of the great-sage beat a hurried retreat and returned to the boy's embrace while feeling very drowsy.

“Quite a formidable praying-mantis indeed, look at how Sun has become after looking at idiot's martial-spirit for a few seconds, shouldn't he be happy? at least... he can use a thir- I mean fourth-power on top of his two natural-affinities and weapon-intent, unlike you and Zhang who only get to use two elements... not only is he be able to use the gold element and earth element but also these hypnotic and illusion-abilities! which should make him—quite effortlessly—throw his opponents off-balance during a fight, if we add to these three-factors the weapon-intent which I feel from his body... that would be four-factors of power which he already has access to but... Why do I feel like there’s only two of these factors of power which are actually harnessed or somewhat refined? while the other two factors aren't.” The boy asked Tao while taking his buddy between his hands... the way he spoke about Lai completely disregarded the existence of the bully who’s sitting at the same table.

“Liao Lai is from a clan which its members are proud of their attainments in the dao of the blade... from a tender age, he revealed notable brilliance whenever he’s wielding the blade! a talent which stood heads and shoulders above many juniors of his clan... if his natural-affinity for the elements of gold and earth were taken into consideration, then it would be like adding a pair of wings to a tiger, his blade talents should blossom since gold means extreme sharpness of the metal in his weapon, while earth means extreme heaviness to each one of his strikes but... his personality—which is battle-hungry and action-loving—made him never satisfied with his martial-spirit—which lacks any direct and offensive-abilities—even I... was able to notice that characteristic on him back then, the first time I saw Lai he was just a boy about your age! it was during the first event he joined in his life... in that competition I got to witness him in action. It was an internal competition between the juniors of the younger-generation from the five-clans... an event which is personally supervised by Tang Wei's great-grandfather—the ancestor of our five clans—during that time... I can remember very clearly when I heard one elder say something interesting about Lai, the summary of it is... Lai is a genius when it comes to using the blade but... if he couldn't integrate the attacks of his blade with his spirit-abilities? then he's going to have a very shaky and flawed-foundation! so far Lai did very good actually when it comes to adding sharpness to his blade-techniques, by infusing the element of gold and its energy to every strike of his blade is child’s play now. Meanwhile when it comes to adding weight and pressure to his blade-techniques... let’s just say he did an "acceptable job" when infusing the element of earth and its energy the strikes of his blade, since blade-intent is compatible with the weapon in his hand to begin with he’s very excellent when applying its energy in his strikes but... the problem is that... he never actually succeeded in adding spirit-abilities to that mixture of energies... and never actually succeeded in perfectly fusing any of his energies... at all! even Zhang is already showing signs of being close to fusing the elements of fire and earth.” Peng Tao spoke with Lin about Lai's secrets very casually and ignored the frown which appeared on the face of the blade-user who’s sitting right next to him.

“Heh. Idiot has... turned-out to be no more than an idiot in the end! it feels sad to know so indeed, he's proud of his blade-intent which is something... laughable indeed. Do you know that before I came here with grandpa Ming... I actually got to witness the moment where a woman—who’s barely twenty years old by the way—materialized her sword-intent! guess what else? the accumulations of that woman within the peak-stage of the grandmaster-realm... actually helped her shoot-through the sub-realms of the tyrant-realm once she achieved her breakthrough! that time... she was able to cross four stages and sub-realms in one go... at least! not to mention that her natural-affinity isn’t for elements from the basic-rank but... for an element which is of the superior-grade, the element of time! some people are just... stubborn and idiotic by nature, they’re unaware of their true size within this world, if only these "frogs" within a "narrow-well" would make the effort to climb-out of its confine to... see the world for what it truly is! to learn about their weight and size,” Lin gave a cynical smile when he noticed how the bully’s frown thickened after he called him "idiot" twice... the boy decided to shatter this man’s ego. However... it seemed like the words of the great-sage were a bit too much—even for Peng Tao who’s always been calm and collected—for these two men to handle! seeing them in loss for words after he's done speaking... Lin turned his head to look towards Lai and continued : “The way I see it... your problem isn't your latent-potential, natural-affinity, or martial-spirit! unlike the others—which have their different and special defects of their own—you're a bit... narrow-minded, it's more than alright to be confident, it’s alright to be strong in physique, personality, and mentality. But... you’re missing your main-role here in this group! which should be you acting as the active-leader of this group... instead of this geezer next to you. However... instead of taking after him and learning from him, to keep an open-mind, and to maintain a healthy breadth of chest, to tolerate the insignificant flaws of your subordinates and companions, to soak in as much as you can from his precious experience! from the moment I got here and laid my eyes on you... I was able to see you being the burden of this group, instead of its leader, you know... that one who stands in the very center when things are comfortable and safe and keeps everything tight and under control, the one who stands at the very front to protect and shield his people when things are tough, rough, and dangerous," Lin gave Liao Lai a moment to digest these words then resumed his lecture : “I have to accompany your group for a while to come... that's why I’ve bothered myself to say these words, otherwise I wouldn't have wasted my breath, let’s just hope that I didn’t really waste it, because next time you dare forget yourself and attempt to ruffle my feathers backwards like you used to do to these guys... let’s just say that... I’ll make sure to end your reign of bullying others, I’ll take it upon myself to bully and suppress you... whenever I see you... I’ll just step all-over your confidence and dignity, If you go too far... then I’ll take it upon myself to seek you out whenever I feel like it just to bully you. That will continue until I break you... then fix you into a proper person.” Finishing his threat... Lin rested his back on his chair and calmly watched the chefs place plates of food and filling cups with various drinks on the table until there wasn’t any area that’s left empty.

“Well said! young-master Lin... well said indeed, these words have been in my chest for a while now, the only reason which made me wary against saying them is my fear for his feelings, now I feel like I should’ve said these words much earlier! maybe if I had said them... then this embarrassment wouldn’t have happened at all. Lai. The truth of things is... just like what you heard from young-master Lin earlier, your character is... indeed flawed! it needs more tempering, just work on it... refine your nasty habits, the same way which you work on tempering your blade-intent. But... the choice is still yours to make in the end, you can either ignore young-master Lin's advice and treat these words of mine like the ravings of a mad old man—which means that you’re a slave to your stubbornness—or... calmly and reasonably think, think long and hard, why do we see you that way? now! let's withdraw ourselves for now. We should allow young-master Lin enjoy his meal in a much better mood than this. Oh! young-master Wei is already handing the lucky ones their money... tsk. I could've really made some good money back then, what a waste of such a good opportunity... what a shame... what a shame indeed!” Old Tao patted Lai's shoulder gently while he spoke then got-up from his seat and went towards Wei... the person who succeeded once more in stashing some money from the unfortunate-crewmates—which lost some good deal of their money betting against Lin—While smiling widely... Wei the person with the highest social-rank on the ship—who took responsibility of managing the "house" during the two-rounds of bets previously—squatted next to the main-mast and counted the spirit-coins on the floor! the fatty acted shamelessly and openly without any care for his image... which is a behavior that’s very much to the frustration and distaste of all the losers. The few "lucky ones" were dancing with glee inwardly and gave the losers gloating looks in secret.

Sun began his sacred-mission of "wiping the plates clean" one after another the kitten ate like a starved ghost! Meanwhile... Lin only tasted each of plates elegantly. The variety of the drinks were entirely the boy’s own... because his buddy never liked to drink anything other than water except for the blood of his prey!... of course.

“Hehe... young-master Lin congratulations on your... well-deserved win! mind if I join you? I’m slightly hungry to be honest,” Wei giggled his way towards Lin's table and spoke while rubbing his palms enthusiastically in excitement! after all... winning that small fortune from earlier made the fatty in a very good mood. What about his breakthrough? Wei... never really cared for such things... spirit-cultivation and all is... worthless in his eyes! honestly... this isn't the first time this fatty experienced such a sudden enlightenment to him experiencing a breakthrough. “Thank you... would it not be to your liking if I called you brother Lin instead? good! I’ll be calling you brother Lin then... you can call me Wei or brother Wei.” After receiving a nod from Lin who expressed his approval of having this person join his table—which seemed awkward to begin with since Lin is the guest not the host in this situation—Wei sat-down and suggested then smiled when he saw Lin shake his head to approve for a seemingly amiable and much more cordial way for the two of them to call each other. 'This one looks like a money-grubber indeed! unfortunately for him though... I'm not going to let go of the water-pearl which is in his possession.' Lin thought while drinking some juice which tasted a lot like pomegranate. “Grandpa Ming told me that you have a water-pearl... what do you plan on doing with it? nobody here seem to have any interest for the system of soul-cultivation, while you don’t seem to have any interest in any kind of system for cultivation at all.” Lin asked but this time he said these words through the ability of soul-link. “The founding-ancestor of my Tang clan and the four clans is... severely wounded in the soul-source, the water-pearl can help alleviate and hopefully heal some of these soul-injuries! of course... if someone—say as great as senior Ming for example—decided to help my great-grandfather then... I'm one-hundred percent certain that my ancestor would recover in no time at all. What do you think brother Lin? is there any chance for that to happen? your grandfather... would he help if you asked him?” Wei didn't deny the fact of the water-pearl in his possession and didn’t hide the purpose of having went to such trouble to get his hands on one of these extremely-rare and extremely-wondrous medicinal-ingredients! the fatty probed carefully with his words but... the boy sitting ahead of him could clearly see the sharp glow of hope in his eyes when this successful merchant said them. That glow gave-away how much Wei wishes for such a scenario to happen. “I don't know when grandpa Ming is going to return, maybe by the time he returns... it’ll be long after I’ve became a soul-keeper, maybe it’ll be much later after I’ve climbed much higher on the system of soul-cultivation, who knows? anyway... do you mind if I keep that water-pearl with me? until we reach your clan... at least! it helps us—soul-cultivators—during sessions of soul-cultivation and gives us many advantages.” Lin hinted with his words that he wouldn’t mind doing whatever Wei wants Ming to do to help that ancestor of his... then straightforwardly asked for the water-pearl from the fatty. “This!... do you promise not make it hard for me when I ask for it back? alright then... here you go brother Lin, this water-pearl is to be kept in your safe-hands until we return to Tang-city, keep it hidden from the eyes of these crewmates, we trust them but... things that they don’t know about couldn’t be extracted from them against their will.” Wei only hesitated for a split-second in the beginning then brought-out one small wooden-box from his space-ring and gently placed it in front of Lin on the table... inside that box is a sky-blue in color, thumb-nail in size, and round in shape... pearl. The fatty was smiling from ear to ear while reminding Lin to prevent trouble from happening to others which are innocent like the crewmates... the expression on his face and the looks in his eyes expressed not a single hint of distrust... whatsoever. “Don’t worry... my soul-force is already blocking everyone else from seeing the water-pearl in my hand. Could this pearl lose its soul-force? say for example... if I used it continuously for the whole duration of our travels?” Lin formed a globe of soul-force around them then opened the wooden-box—which Sun generously helped pushing all the way from the other end of the table— then held that blue-colored pearl on his palm and asked the fatty while feeling the benefits of this water-pearl which is famous for augmenting the soul-force of its owners. First benefit the boy noticed is how his soul-force suddenly became stronger while his soul-sense strengthened and expanded greatly because it grew from the range of only one-hundred and sixty kilometers to... one-hundred and seventy kilometers! but... that’s not the end of it... his soul-sense is still—in-fact—growing and increasing in range without stop like the spreading water which flooded the dam that blocked its path. One-hundred and eighty kilometers... one-hundred and ninety!... then finally—once Lin was about to stand and raise two celebratory-fists towards the sky and dance with Sun because the range of his soul-sense and strength of his soul-force are increasing seemingly to no end—the expansion stabilized at the two-hundred kilometers mark of maximum-range! the great-sage sighed at the insane benefit of this small water-pearl to someone like him. “This is a... miraculous-treasure of the world, the chance of actually encountering or finding it... is one appearing every hundred years, so we’re extremely lucky and fortunate to find it to begin with. About using it, don’t worry at all... it does indeed consume small parts of its powers, but... the water-pearl can restore and recharge its soul-force! one of the quickest methods is by... submerging the water-pearl itself in spirit-water, the higher the quality and purity of the spirit-water... the faster it’s for the pearl to restores the soul-force it lost. That’s why you don't have to worry about exhausting all of the soul-force inside it, just use it however you like in your soul-cultivation and tell me if you require spirit-water to recharge it, actually once we reach pearl-city I’ll make sure to buy some high-quality spirit-water specifically for you brother Lin. I still can’t really believe what I heard from Lai earlier... brother Lin is a soul-clone, being so great at this extremely young age of six years old! tsk, tsk, tsk, your stunning achievements just... leaves no room for those from the older-generation to breathe loudly in your presence, because compared to your greatness they’re just small and insignificant in the end, do you know what makes me feel sorry for them? is whenever I imagine that this greatness of yours is actually your small and tiny-form... in the future that form would grow and the greatness will gain in size! just being able to call someone like you "brother" is making me feel extremely proud and happy, but unlike someone like me who has nothing to speak of... except for some small success and a bit of luck being a merchant, plus a shaky and weak spirit-foundation, and a crappy boredom and lack of interest when it comes to spirit-cultivation... you need to keep working hard and make your grandfather Ming proud! once he returns he should find that you didn’t lose focus on your cultivation of either soul or spirit. Otherwise I would be the person he blames... brother Lin, I really don’t want to be punished by any soul-cultivator, if it happened? then I certainly don’t wish for the individual to be a soul-keeper! my fat-armor is too thin to endure such torture.” Wei explained then reminded Lin that his own fat-butt is at stake here... finally the fatty couldn’t endure his hunger and joined Sun in wiping the plates clean. Both of them made it harder for the team of chefs and their assistants to keep-up... but lady "cook" handled the pressure just fine by turning "serious" the woman not only personally worked on preparing the raw-materials and ingredients but also joined the work on handling the temperature of the fire on each dish and organizing the plates... while supervising the work of her subordinates.

'Senior Kai. Is there anything that I can do to use this water-pearl to help old Jin right now?' Lin called for the formidable raccoon and waited respectfully for an answer.

“Meow!...” Sun snared and revealed his fangs towards Tang Wei after the fatso and money-grubber dared to extend his greasy and sausage-like fingers towards one of the plates which the kitten targeted beforehand! that plate is full of chunks of tender and aromatic meat... the tiger in kitten-form glared at the fatty and snorted after seeing Lin give it a look of slight disapproval.

“Your name is Sun huh! no need to be angry, I don’t want you fight for food with me, because this Wei has never lost a food competition before. Hehehe.” Wei snickered when this pet of his brother Lin begrudgingly backed-off... then while stuffing his mouth full of meat-chunks... the fatty spoke with some difficulty because his mouth is full of food which spattered some of the plates with meat-shreds! an action which antagonized Sun further than he already was—which is the wrong move because the red-tiger thought that Wei is "marking" these plates as his belongings—and finally this tiger in kitten-form couldn’t endure this fat person anymore... it’s either it goes directly for his butt and bite it extremely hard to stop this person from stealing its food! or it do something to prevent this "glutton" from eating more than he should. “Snort!...” Sun gave Wei a snort in return then jumped from the table and reverted back to his original tiger-form... the red-tiger simply opened its jaws and effortlessly swallowed more meat than Wei. The fatty was forced into being passive while Sun ate meat by the plate! before Wei got a chance to complain or refill his mouth with meat a couple of times... this small table has long been empty of any more meat.

“Wei. If I were you... then I wouldn't compete with Sun on who can eat more, this fellow have the appetite of a ghouls.” Lin smiled when he saw Wei frown—because he doesn’t know what a "ghoul" is but he can relate after seeing that damn demonic-beast eat—and vent his frustrations by chewing on some of the veggies which Sun kindly and generously left for him.

“En. I was mistaken when I thought that he’s just a kitten, since only the talented ones amongst the beasts can actually change-form while in the demonic-realm. Sigh, brother Lin... even your tamed-beast is amazing! but... I refuse to admit defeat just yet, since food competitions couldn’t be decided by who can eat more in the beginning, food competitions should be decided by who can eat more until his foe—drops to the side or his back whatever happens first—with a belly that couldn’t handle any more food inside it!” Tang Wei said wisely while waiting for the waiters to clean the mess... once the next batch of plates were served... the fatty quickly extended his fat-arms to hog a few of them towards him and never stopped chewing blissfully while protecting his portion from the mouth of this beast.

While shaking his head at the behavior of his buddy and this fatty... Lin patiently waited for Kai to answer him and just watched Sun and Wei enthusiastically compete for food! the boy drank different cups of juice and noticed that the wine-gourd which Tao left on the table was being gazed-at by Liao Lai—who stood to the side by the gunwale of the ship and acted like he’s gazing at the water absentmindedly—every once in a while.

“You stupid boy! who do you think you are? who do you think I am? your servant! I'm not yours... not his... not anyone’s. You’re the one who’s serving me... get that truth through that thick-skull of yours already, tsk.” Kai's loud voice made Lin feel his head become slightly dizzy after the words with the extremely angry tone of voice rang inside it and shook his very soul! Ming was covering his ears within the soul-world already and shrugging helplessly.

'Senior Kai. Sorry for disturbing your peace once again, it's just that... I don't know what to do with that water-pearl.' Lin felt uneasy once Kai admonished him so severely... the boy doesn't mind it if Kai scolds him a little every now and then actually! it’s just that if this talking-raccoon refused to tell Lin how to help Jin Bao and what to do with the water-pearl then... it would be useless to have the pearl itself in the first place... and this whole sacred-mission to save the poor fellow would... simply lose its meaning! especially since old Jin never told the great-sage what to do with these medicinal-ingredients in the first place.

“Such a stupid boy! just place the damn thing in the soul-formation with the annoying bastard, snort... now scram.” Kai really answered in the end! but... soon afterwards Lin was brought almost to tears after he heard the angry words of the talking-raccoon.

'Senior Kai. I really am not aware of where or how to reach the soul-formation which old Jin’s soul-source is trapped within. Senior Kai. Please don't make things hard for me... I promised to do my best in following any of your commands and instructions, so just order me however you want and you’ll see my devotion, test my compliance to the smallest and tiniest bits or pieces of detail with your wishes. All I’ll ever ask for is a chance from you to allow me to help old Jin... if I ever become greedy and ask for more, then punish me however you like.' Lin patiently said then waited for Kai to answer his plea.

“Humph. I’ll do it myself. But I’m not doing it because I owe him anything, or because of anything that you said or done, I’m doing it because I feel like doing it, do you understand? stupid boy.” The talking-raccoon said and the boy discovered that the water-pearl has already disappeared from his hand and isn’t inside his space-ring either.

'Senior Kai. You’re free like the wind... fair and honorable when dealing with someone weak and annoying like me, I really don’t want to bother you anymore than I already have but I have to ask. Senior... do you have any orders for me?' Lin said that while feeling really good! the great-sage isn’t feeling good because he’s forced by these strange and awkward circumstances to grovel and crawl underneath the crotch of this grumpy-raccoon or anything. The boy is happy about acquiring one of the five medicinal-ingredients which Jin Bao requires... these materials—supposedly—would eventually allow the poor fellow to survive and would—somehow—help him grow another physical-body for himself.

“You're not yet capable, you’re not enough! stupid boy needs to grow to a stupid man to be of help to me, at least... snort. Next time you get another one of these ingredients should be years from now anyway, maybe much later... because you’re stupid that is. These five items on that beggar’s wish-list are the highest in quality and rarest in quantity amongst medicinal-ingredients, he requested five miraculous-treasures from you directly and shamelessly, aiming for soul-related world-treasures of supreme-quality and paramount-rarity plus indispensable-relation to the five elements. Heh. Despite being nothing but a beggar... he's really not lacking in ambition, tsk. The rest of the ingredients that he requires next are scattered all-over around the world, only one of them could be found within this southern-continent... maybe if you're lucky you can find another one of them in the biggest auction within the continent, but the price is certainly going to empty your pockets... many times over. The "green-stem" from the "white-lotus emperor" can only be found in the central areas of the "great-forest" which is located west of this continent ahead of you, or deeper within the territories of the elves nearby their "sacred-tree" or if you want to call it like how they like to call it "world-tree" there you'll get better chances of finding one of these green-stems. From the western-continent specifically from the "great-plains" you’ll be able to find "earth-mercury" if you’re lucky and fortunate enough to find it, like the rest of these treasures it can be found in auctions once every few decades... if you have the price that is, but your friend doesn’t have enough time because that water-pearl could buy him five more years, afterwards... his soul scatters and if it happens he can never be healed again.” Lin listened closely to each word from Kai and decided to go take a look in that so-called great-forest later to search for that green-stem of the white-lotus emperor! that earth-mercury? since Wei here is a merchant... then maybe he can be of use to the boy.

'Senior Kai. You have my gratitude, I’ll make sure to follow your guidance and see if my luck is good to find both ingredients before it is too late for old Jin.' Lin thanked the raccoon then held the wine-gourd to pour himself a cup of that wine. But before he got to raise the cup of wine towards his mouth... the great-sage found Liao Lai returning to the table and taking his seat next to him.

“This wine is called snake-venom, a specialty from the Peng-clan... only those which are like old Tao and have the martial-spirit of the winged-snake can actually make it, after drinking it you'll enter a state of near-death. This miraculous-state of near-death... allows those who drink the wine to gain a chance to dig-out some of their buried latent-potential, I just thought that young-master Lin should know that before he drink it, that way you’ll be prepared.” Lai said politely and Lin couldn't help but notice the sadness and longing within the eyes of this blade-user.

“Is it now! but... why didn't old Tao enter that state of near-death? he just drank from earlier.” The boy raised an eyebrow and asked while swirling the wine in his cup with slight movement of his wrist.

“The venom from his martial-spirit is completely ineffective against himself, that’s why old Tao needs to drink the wine made by someone else from the Peng clan of course, under one condition... that person has to be someone who's stronger than old Tao himself! otherwise he stands to gain no benefit at all from drinking it. But... I don't think old Tao would waste such valuable wine on himself though.” Lai said and Lin nodded when he found the answer reasonable enough.

“Want one?” Lin asked then poured another glass for the blade-user who seemed to blush slightly after the offer, “Forthright, unhesitant, forceful, suppressive, dominant, sharp, fluid, and constant. That's the way of the blade from my inexperienced-perspective! meanwhile your martial-spirit should teach you how to become... calm, patient, lightning-quick, spontaneous, and lethal. These are only the ordinary characteristics of that creature—which is nothing but a bug among many living within that wide kingdom of insects that contain countless organisms—but... if I were to guess, then its hypnotic-abilities means that—on-top of the characteristics from before which you need to learn—it must have manipulation, deception, control, illusion, and depth! the blade has a single sharp-edge while the sword has two sharp-edges yet... the difference between the two weapons isn't that big, however... they’re nothing alike when it comes to combat, the mentality itself... of the ones who wield these weapons is different. When you know why... then know that you're not that far from materializing your intent! mixing water and oil isn't that hard if you add some soap... the question is... what is your soap? the missing piece of this puzzle... can connect all these loose and scattered parts of your power.” The great-sage handed Lai his glass and after pumping glasses with the stunned blade-user the boy downed the first cup of wine in this life.

It was some kind of mild wine which has a slight sourness to its taste but all in all it didn’t taste bad actually... then the great-sage felt extreme heat within the area of his stomach! once that hot fire-like feeling in his belly increased to the unendurable-limit... Lin understood that he needs to sit in meditation to solve whatever that’s going on with his body... and so he did.

“Old Tao! make sure that young-master Lin and young-master Wei are alright... meanwhile I’ll see for myself what kind of aftereffects happen after tasting some of your Peng-clan famous snake-venom wine.” Liao Lai said then emptied his own glass and sat next to Lin.

“Heh. His attitude towards me is different, there’s hope for him... I guess!” Tang Wei said when he noticed how Lai called him young-master in a way which felt like he actually meant and believed in it.

“You have young-master Lin to thank for that.” Tao said then kept the wine-gourd back in his space-ring.

Lin felt his breathing gradually slow-down and his heart similarly took it easy and slow-down in its beats! the great-sage’s mind calmed and his vital-signs started to fade-out and he felt at peace while in this feeling but... these feelings of peace weren’t foreign for the boy... instantly Lin remembered the time before he died in the arms of Sarah... he has indeed felt similar peace and release... only once... this time makes it twice now.

The sight of his inner body was revealed next afterwards. The blood halted its movement in his veins, cells, and muscle fibers! the organs of his body are motionless—which seemed like his body has become a corpse—yet his second-heart—which seems like an artifact made from transparent-glass—is visible inside the chest of the boy’s body. Then Lin looked at four star-like acupoints on the area of his chest—if he isn't wrong then these four acupoints which are glowing faintly like dim-stars, are in the exact same places which hurt whenever the great-sage experienced the phenomenon of washing-impurities—then he noticed how these four acupoints on the chest-area are actually connected through a small and narrow pathway of similarly dim-light... meanwhile there's twenty more acupoints on the chest-area which are completely dark! from the look of it... these twenty dark-stars are waiting to be opened and lit-up in light like the four acupoints. These twenty-four acupoints in the chest-area are connected together in an incomplete-pathway and connected to a much bigger gathering of acupoints which is split evenly between the two shoulders and arms... then these two groups of acupoints are connected to the lower-body through the boy’s back towards the legs beginning from the gluteus and thighs and spreading in the biggest amount of acupoints on the body! these three groups of acupoints does have a very complicated network of dark and dormant pathways all-over the boy’s body. By the time Lin noticed all this... the fifth acupoint seemed to breathe and dim glow began to flicker on it until that fifth-acupoint completely formed a link with the other acupoints through the pathways around it! afterwards it was like water that broke the only dam and Lin watched one acupoint... breathe, glow, link... then another... and another! sixth-acupoint, seventh... tenth, eleventh... twelfth-acupoint. Once that acupoint opened... everything immediately stopped... but the star-like acupoints are no longer dim... and the pathways connecting them are no longer faint! “Thump!...” Lin's heart moved once and the beat was so deep and loud to the degree that the sound could actually be heard by everyone on the ship! Wei and Sun stopped their game of who could eat more and looked towards Lin in shock then looked at each other to confirm that they both just heard that sound coming from Lin’s heart. Then the fatty and the red-tiger noticed how the boy’s body began sweating quite heavily from every pore on his skin! first in the beginning... that sweat was very yellowish in color and looked like some kind of disgusting pus while smelling like some nasty fart or a pile of horseshit! but... quickly that sweat on the body of the great-sage became murky yellowish-white in color and lost a lot of its awful smell... finally that sweat became transparent like the sweat of normal people and the red-tiger smelled the odor of his best-friend from it. However... what happened next made the tamed-beast move closer towards the boy and sniff him to confirm that its nose isn’t playing games with it! because the smell of Lin's sweat right now felt refreshing... just like whenever the tiger smelled flowers and roses... Sun gently used his barbed-tongue to lick the great-sage who’s smelling like the "honey" and "sweets" which Lily always enjoyed and liked! it did taste like nectar and the red-tiger looked once again at the motionless boy to confirm that this isn’t some sick joke being played on it like a prank. The red-tiger felt like everything just ended and began to despair when Lin sweated no more... and smelled no more! because Sun couldn't smell his buddy while being this close to the great-sage and couldn’t feel the boy’s breathe or vital-signs... no matter how much the red-tiger tried to close its eyes and focus... it just couldn’t feel life from Lin’s body.

Peng Tao was sucking a cold-breathe while feeling disbelief and watching the ongoing-experience of Lin's state of near-death after the boy drank the snake-venom wine—which the old man made personally for a rare few to ever taste—Tao thought Lin would benefit in the soul or spirit aspects! but... this experienced-fellow was surprised once he found that Lin has just attained the phenomenon of "nature-breath" that’s a stage—which qi-refiners experience after connecting half of the minimum number of acupoints—required for every qi-refiner to undergo before becoming a "lesser qi-refiner" a step which requires having twenty-four acupoints which are fully connected by the glowing pathways! from the look of it this boy Lin seems to be halfway through the journey of becoming a lesser qi-refiner. 'Not only is he dual cultivating the systems of soul and spirit but also his talents in body refinement seems to be monstrous too.' Peng Tao thought while looking towards Lin with growing admiration for the great amount of talent which he has. “Don’t worry about your friend... he’s alright, he’s safe with us.” Then the old man looked towards Sun and calmed him once he noticed how anxious he became after discovering that the boy isn’t responding to its whimpering-calls of worry. These words eased Sun’s tension slightly but the tamed-beast felt like it just lost its appetite and just wasn’t in the mood to resume the competition with Wei.

“Whoosh!...” The elements of gold and earth began to gather towards Lai who seems to be on the verge of undergoing his breakthrough towards the final and ninth-stage of the spirit-grandmaster realm.

While shaking his head... the old man expected the look on the face of the elders from the five-clans—which he isn’t going to be able to see—when this group of juniors return from their secret-mission! because not only is the four of them going to return with the water-pearl... but also while the four of them having already attained at least a breakthrough in one sub-realm... not to mention the lucky bonus of having this boy Lin in their company and enjoying the assistance of his unfair amount of talent.

After the pathways of the twelve-acupoints fully connected on the chest-area of the boy’s body each and every one of his body-cells opened their doors wide and welcomed at least one of the weak and obedient white-strands of light-energy in their center! quite a lot of the body-cells has one of the yellow-strands in their center... while almost one-tenth of the body-cells has the much stronger and pure gold-strands in their center... rare minority of the body-cells of Lin’s body has the dark-gold strands in their center. The boy witnessed his heart turn entirely and completely gold in color! his blood is no longer red like normal people... the blood of the great-sage became almost completely yellow in color from the effect of having countless strands of light-energy within his body and settling-in his body-cells.

Once Sun felt the elements of light which his buddy always gathers within his body it relieved his worry and the tiger glared at the fatty who dared have fun and eat more once it left the table. 'Unforgivable! you’re going down... meat-ball.' Sun thought before resuming the race with this chubby-human.

From the outside.

Lin is like a bright lantern glowing in the dark like a beacon of light! and the extreme-glow of his skin actually blinded others with its light when they looked towards him.

Then his spirit-wings appeared on the boy’s back and the light-energy began racing towards the doors of his dantian-space—which are left wide-open to welcome every strand of light-energy in a very wide range—Ming was perfectly using this chance to resume their unfinished work from before on purifying the light-energy within the dantian-space and the pair of wings inside kept being stubborn by interrupting Ming’s work whenever it blew-away the cloud-nebulas toward the dantian-walls just like what happened before! only this time... the clouds inside the dantian are all gold in color... and the rate of the spirit-wings scattering the clouds within the dantian is much... much faster than before.

'This kid... sure has flare.' Tao thought while watching how Lai became almost non-existent just because he’s sitting next to Lin in this moment.